Thread by @weg_uk

Here comes a WEG litter thread. Grab a cuppa and let's see what the bags contain this month!

Starting with the local cake makers who have been making éclairs in huge numbers on the local lay bys. Not our biggest haul, but a pretty decent pile for a cold month.

Next up, our pile of the month is perennial winner @CocaCola with a mix of aluminium and plastic. Coke recently told us they support a deposit return scheme. How much would we get for this lot? Could you donate in trees if we recycle it for you?

@CocaCola Honourable mention to @CostaCoffee owned by @CocaCola. Costa cups can only be recycled at four specialist facilities as they are plastic lined, so we can't recycle them. The lids are very bad for the environment, but customers need a lid. I think. Will Costa take these for us?

@CocaCola @CostaCoffee Next Coke's biggest competitor @pepsi. Just look at all the plastic here. Studies show more than 8 million tons of plastic bottles end up in the sea each year. Over 90% of sea birds have plastic pieces in their stomach. Why do they sell them? Why do we buy them?

@CocaCola @CostaCoffee @pepsi As we're in the West Country, we love cider. @thatchers_cider are donating trees to us for getting their cans out of the environment and into a recycling plant. Thanks @thatchers_cider!

@CocaCola @CostaCoffee @pepsi @thatchers_cider Forest of Dean's @LucozadeSport support deposit return and said they'd try to help us. 14% of all litter comes from beverage containers. Add caps and labels and the number is higher. 8m tons of plastic in our seas annually. We'd love your help, @LucozadeSport. Call us!

@CocaCola @CostaCoffee @pepsi @thatchers_cider @LucozadeSport You knew it was coming. Here's @McDonaldsUK with a bumper pile. Their cups contain plastic and cannot be recycled. @McDonaldsUK what are you doing to solve this? Can we put this rubbish in the recycling in our local restaurant?

@CocaCola @CostaCoffee @pepsi @thatchers_cider @LucozadeSport @McDonaldsUK On to plastic wrappers, starting with @CadburyUK. These wrappers are probably polypropylene and will be landfilled, incinerated or pollute the environment. We pull this stuff out of the soil. They break down over 30 years and contain lead and cadmium.

@CocaCola @CostaCoffee @pepsi @thatchers_cider @LucozadeSport @McDonaldsUK @CadburyUK Crisp packets from @walkers_crisps, now owned by @pepsi can be recycled through TerraCycle, but most people don't. They are a among the biggest sources of plastic in ocean environments, breaking down and consumed by creatures, affecting the whole food chain.

@CocaCola @CostaCoffee @pepsi @thatchers_cider @LucozadeSport @McDonaldsUK @CadburyUK @walkers_crisps Next energy drinks! @redbull still top of the litter charts here. Production of these cans pumps twice the carbon into the atmosphere as a plastic bottle, but are infinitely recyclable. This doesn't work if it's thrown in a hedge though. @redbull can we return these for trees?

@CocaCola @CostaCoffee @pepsi @thatchers_cider @LucozadeSport @McDonaldsUK @CadburyUK @walkers_crisps @redbull Hot on their heels is @MonsterEnergy. People collect these cans, but we'd rather see the recycling people collect them. How much will you give us deposit return for these in return for trees, @MonsterEnergy?

@CocaCola @CostaCoffee @pepsi @thatchers_cider @LucozadeSport @McDonaldsUK @CadburyUK @walkers_crisps @redbull @MonsterEnergy Another @CocaCola brand @relentlessdrink adds to their considerable litter pile this month. Come on @CocaCola, we're spending a lot of time and effort cleaning up your products. Help us out with some trees and we'll be happy!

@CocaCola @CostaCoffee @pepsi @thatchers_cider @LucozadeSport @McDonaldsUK @CadburyUK @walkers_crisps @redbull @MonsterEnergy @relentlessdrink A new entry for @sanmiguel_uk. Winterbourne has mostly been enjoying Spanish beer this month and throwing it into the road sides! If these were deposit return, we might not be fishing so many out of prickly hedges. How about it @sanmiguel_uk? Will you find our trees as thanks?

@CocaCola @CostaCoffee @pepsi @thatchers_cider @LucozadeSport @McDonaldsUK @CadburyUK @walkers_crisps @redbull @MonsterEnergy @relentlessdrink @SanMiguel_UK Those that aren't tempted by the Spanish have been on the Belgian with @stellaartois. Some of these cans were half buried, but can now be made into more beer cans! Care to help us recreate The Ardennes in the UK @stellaartois by funding some trees for us?

@CocaCola @CostaCoffee @pepsi @thatchers_cider @LucozadeSport @McDonaldsUK @CadburyUK @walkers_crisps @redbull @MonsterEnergy @relentlessdrink @SanMiguel_UK @StellaArtois It's hard to know how much of our litter comes from supermarkets, but this lot has @tesco written all over it. Gin, cider and plastic pollution! All of this could be deposit return. What do you say @tesco? In the meantime, could you help us with funding to plant more trees?

@CocaCola @CostaCoffee @pepsi @thatchers_cider @LucozadeSport @McDonaldsUK @CadburyUK @walkers_crisps @redbull @MonsterEnergy @relentlessdrink @SanMiguel_UK @StellaArtois @Tesco Our @nestle pile is small, but we know they own loads of brands. We'll do our homework for next time, so please be ready to talk sustainability, plastic reduction and tree planting!

@CocaCola @CostaCoffee @pepsi @thatchers_cider @LucozadeSport @McDonaldsUK @CadburyUK @walkers_crisps @redbull @MonsterEnergy @relentlessdrink @SanMiguel_UK @StellaArtois @Tesco @Nestle We find some @burgerking packaging here. Like Maccie Ds, their cups are plastic lined. While we're here, where's the UK impossible whopper @burgerking? We like a tasty burger, but don't like contributing to the deforestation of the Amazon. Help us plant trees instead!

@CocaCola @CostaCoffee @pepsi @thatchers_cider @LucozadeSport @McDonaldsUK @CadburyUK @walkers_crisps @redbull @MonsterEnergy @relentlessdrink @SanMiguel_UK @StellaArtois @Tesco @Nestle @BurgerKing I forgot to include @mccoys in the soft plastics section, owned by @kpsnacks. Crisp packets are polypropylene or polyethylene coated with aluminium. They get ingested by animals. For the avoidance of doubt, this is bad. What's the plan to solve this, @kpsnacks?

@CocaCola @CostaCoffee @pepsi @thatchers_cider @LucozadeSport @McDonaldsUK @CadburyUK @walkers_crisps @redbull @MonsterEnergy @relentlessdrink @SanMiguel_UK @StellaArtois @Tesco @Nestle @BurgerKing @McCoys @KPSnacks Archaeologists of the future will find a layer of masks and PPE. I picked up 42 this month. Made from long lasting plastic materials and mistaken for prey in the sea. They may last hundreds of years and will break down to micro and nanoplastics. This should scare us.

@CocaCola @CostaCoffee @pepsi @thatchers_cider @LucozadeSport @McDonaldsUK @CadburyUK @walkers_crisps @redbull @MonsterEnergy @relentlessdrink @SanMiguel_UK @StellaArtois @Tesco @Nestle @BurgerKing @McCoys @KPSnacks Here are five bags of smaller and unidentifiable stuff. Mostly plastic, some from producers already mentioned, but too mucky or small to work out origins.

@CocaCola @CostaCoffee @pepsi @thatchers_cider @LucozadeSport @McDonaldsUK @CadburyUK @walkers_crisps @redbull @MonsterEnergy @relentlessdrink @SanMiguel_UK @StellaArtois @Tesco @Nestle @BurgerKing @McCoys @KPSnacks Finally, here's the glass and cans from other manufacturers not mentioned on this thread yet. We'll get to them!

Remember, this is the one month of local picking by one person in a semi rural area. Multiply this across the UK to appreciate the scale of this problem.

We're taking a closer look at Winterbourne litter for a better environment. Much more to come! @frome_val_voice @sgloscouncil @sgloslibdems @wfm_matters @SavageToby1 @SouthGlosGreens @FaBSLabourParty @WinterbournePC @KeepBritainTidy @MayorTimBowles @votedannorris