The Chartered Institution of Wastes Management (CIWM) has called for a ‘swift and outright ban’ on single-use barbeques.
Andy Burnham has urged shops ‘big and small’ to stop selling disposable barbecues amid increased wildfire risk due to this summer’s heatwave and drought.
The prime minister said that ‘longer term’ the government would considering banning the sale of single-use grills, but only during the summer months.
CIWM said it applauds the government and Andy Burnham for highlighting the ‘inherent danger’ caused by throwaway barbeques, which the prime minister said had caused a number of recent wildfires.
Commenting, CIWM’s Director of Policy, Communications and External Affairs, Dan Cooke, said: “There can be fewer products where the case for a quick and outright ban is stronger, and CIWM calls on government to act – and ban them – and to retailers and users to do the right thing and stop selling and using them.”
“Across the UK, the careless (and even careful) use of these items presents a real and ongoing risk to public safety and to our hugely valued parks, nature reserves, woods, forests and heathland going up in smoke. They are labelled as ‘disposable’, but in reality they are anything but.”
Single-use barbeques have been identified by Fire & Rescue Services as causes of serious fires across the UK.
Cooke continued: “Unless thoroughly doused in water, or left for several hours to dissipate all heat, they cause fires in bins, and often leave smouldering coals in the sand they are often buried in for people to step on.”
“A good proportion are simply abandoned, becoming dangerous litter – hot charcoal and metal grates with jagged edges. Even when they don’t cause fires, they kill grass and leave unsightly burnt patches across well-tended parks and gardens.”
The British Retail Consortium (BRC) has issued updated voluntary guidance that says retailers ‘should consider’ removing disposable BBQs from sale once an extreme heat event has been declared as imminent or in response to‘reasonable, evidence-based’ requests from local authorities.
The prime minister has urged all retailers to adhere to the guidance, however, CIWM said they are not enough.
“While some responsible retailers, including Aldi and Waitrose, have already stopped selling them, others have not, and Parliamentary petitions and motions have failed to get the attention of government,” Cooke said.
“CIWM calls for a swift and outright ban on all difficult-to-dispose-of (so-called ‘disposable’) barbeques.”
