Braintree council working with fast-food chains to curb littering

Vehicles users are being reminded by Essex authorities that roads are for driving on, not littering on, as part of this year’s Love Essex campaign.

Keeping Essex clean costs the taxpayer more than £17.5 million a year.

KFC and McDonald’s will be supporting the campaign by displaying banners at 48 drive-through restaurants with the message ‘It’s a takeaway, not a throwaway’, as well as distributing stickers on the packaging and inside restaurants.

The campaign will highlight the consequences offenders who are caught throwing litter from a vehicle will face.

This includes a fixed penalty notice of up to £150, or upon a conviction in court, a fine of £2,500, plus costs.

Council environment boss Wendy Schmitt said: “This year, the anticipated cost of keeping our district clean and tidy will be around £1.54 million and picking up other people’s litter is an expensive part of that.

“We know the detrimental impact that litter has on our environment.

“This anti-social behaviour needs to stop, and some people need to take responsibility for their own thoughtless actions.

“There is no excuse not to dispose of litter in the proper manner and we have a zero-tolerance level towards littering offenders.

“All it takes is for people to just use the bins provided at the restaurants, in roadside laybys, or to take their litter home.”

Bus shelters and the back of buses will also be displaying the campaign messages and to drive the message home, a video has been produced to highlight the consequences: loveessex.org/litter-video.

KFC's Claire Owen said: “Our KFC restaurants are proud to be a part of this campaign. We Love Essex and that’s why we’re reminding our customers that it’s a takeaway, not a throwaway.

"That’s why you’ll see our teams out litter-picking too - doing our bit to keep our streets clean.”

To find out more about Love Essex and this campaign, visit loveessex.org/littering.