Can CSR make a difference to the litter menace?

A new CSR partnership of government and business has been launched to tackle littering. Will it make any difference?

It's important to remain optimistic that 2011 will see a cleaner Britain than 2010. However, cuts by the coalition Government mean less money for local councils, and hence, for street cleaning, so the dice are already loaded against it.

The annual survey from Keep Britain Tidy, somewhat boringly named the 'Local Environment Quality Survey for England' reveals that we Brits remain as slovenly as ever when it comes to littering.

Last year, we chucked away more sweet wrappers, soft drinks cans, cigarette butts and fast-food boxes than ever before.

Now a CSR taskforce to tackle the problem has been convened - the Litter Challenge Group. And come Spring 2011 a new anti-littering brand will be launched - 'Love where you Live'. (The implication being that if you really did love where you lived you wouldn't strew Mars bar wrappers all over it.)

So where does the CSR activity come in? Well, corporate members of the Litter Challenge Group have stumped up the cash for this marketing campaign. Who are these paragons of generosity? Well, they include Wrigley, McDonald's and Coca Cola, among others. Yes, that's right, the major sources of the littering problem.

It may seem churlish to point this out when these companies are not obliged to get involved but perhaps membership of the Litter Challenge Group is ultimately less costly than Government regulation. Chewing gum is a particular menace. It was found to stain the pavements in 69% of sites visited (of a total 10,645). After all this time can no scientists really come up with a way of causing gum to break down and disappear?

And Coca-Cola has previously launched, with much fanfare, 'recycling on the go' for its cans. These were in a small number of places and don't seem to have been extended since launch. Government could oblige all drinks companies to pool resources and pay for recycling points for their cans and bottles. After all, recycled aluminium in particular is worth a lot of money.

Launching a joint anti-litter campaign does have value but it needs to be combined with concrete solutions to the problem. Government should consider harsher penalties for those who drop litter, as well as legislation covering companies whose products are the worst offenders.

The formula by which money that is currently paid by drinks manufacturers towards local authority recycling is so horrendously complicated that few understand it. And it doesn't seem to result in much cash for local authorities either.

CSR could have a really positive impact in tackling litter and a consumer-awareness campaign can play an important part. However, it is not the whole solution and government shouldn't shy away from tougher penalties if our litter problem continues as it is.

Photo credit: Smabs Sputzer