Coca-cola and Cadbury top of litter louts’ list

LITTEr louts are most likely to dump Coca-Cola cans, Cadbury confectionery wrappers and Walkers crisp packets, a survey has revealed.

The branded packaging was the most common amongst tonnes of rubbish found strewn across parks, beaches and river or canal banks during a UK-wide litter-picking exercise.

Volunteers scooped up more than 37,000 pieces of rubbish in the latest Keep Britain Tidy campaign – more than ten times the quantity picked up in previous years, according to the charity.

After Coca-Cola and Cadbury, the most frequently dumped brands were Walkers, McDonald’s, Mars and red Bull.

Keep Britain chief executive Tidy Phil Barton said: “These results should be a wake-up call that we all need to do more to love where we live.

“Litter is not just an environmental problem. It affects perceptions of safety and costs the UK nearly £1 billion a year to clean up.”

He added: “This provides us with a snapshot of what people have littered in communities across the country.

“We all need to do more to make littering socially unacceptable, to reduce the environmental, social and financial costs of this national problem.”

He warned the problem could get worse.

He added: “It’s time for more responsible companies to help more people love more places, by joining efforts to convince their consumers to do the right thing.”

Other brands on the most frequently dumped list included Imperial Tobacco, Nestle, Foster’s and Pepsi.