DETAILS OF THE first ever meeting of Europes leading 15 litter prevention organisations have just been released.
The group met in Brussels in November in a bid to create a Pan-European network which will share best practice on how to reduce litter from foodservice. It will also initiate an annual Clean Europe Day from 2014, aimed at engaging all the citizens of Europe to change their littering behaviour.
All the Litter Prevention Groups from across Europe, including Irish Business Against Litter, Keep Britain Tidy and Keep Scotland Beautiful, also agreed to launch a European Litter Prevention Network in the first quarter of 2013.
With the initiation of this first Litter Prevention Network the foodservice packaging industry wants to contribute to tackling this important issue, said David Schisler, a board member at Pack2Go Europe, which organised the conference.
We accept this is a packaging industry problem too, but also a behavioural issue for consumers who must be made more aware of the consequence of their poor littering habits.
Tony Waters, president at Pack2Go Europe which represents the major foodservice packaging manufacturers, added. Litter is waste in the wrong place and it is important to better understand the behavioural issues and lack of infrastructure which contribute to its impact, said Tony Waters.
Although foodservice packaging products are not the predominant components of litter, [we want] to engage with anyone working on reducing littering. We must all start to identify clear practical outputs that can be used to help Europe clean up its act.
The European Union Environment Commissioner Janez Poto?nik is particularly supportive and keen to see the establishment of the Clean Europe Day, with a major review of EU waste policy planned for 2014.
