Should Mcdonalds Print Car Registration Numbers On Bags?

[naomi24]

//A farmer is calling on McDonald’s to print customers’ car registrations on its drive-thru takeaway bags, to deter people from littering the countryside with them.//

https://www.metro.news/farmer-wants-mcdonalds-to-id-litterbugs-on-its-bags/1810411/

Good idea?

[hereIam]

Yes, in theory. I wish they could print the name and address of the yobs who buy drinks or ice cream from them too, as there is one only a short distance from where I live and by the time they get here, they've finished and they just dump the containers on the ground as they walk past - drives me mad !!

[TheDevil]

How will this be policed?

It is already a criminal offence to litter. If people had their registration plates printed onto their fast food packaging, it may deter them from littering but if a bag is found with a number plate printed on it then what action would be took?

You couldn't prove that the rubbish was littered by the registration plate owner. You also couldn't prove that the wind didn't cause the rubbish to become litter.

[naomi24]

It drives me mad too, hereIam. I hate litter louts - and fly tippers.

[Old_Geezer]

Can't see it being workable. Are they going to print on the cups too. Wouldn't the reg just be ripped off ? Are drivers supposed to be their passengers keepers ? Who's going to be paid to chase up the bag and it's car driver ? Are the farmers funding it all ?

[douglas9401]

While it may seem like a plan at first glance I doubt anyone in authority is going to allocate funding for a scheme like this given the poor state of overall policing and enforcement of existing laws.

[naomi24]

True the numbers could be ripped off … but I don’t see any reason the scheme couldn’t work as the community speed check schemes work where local residents clock speeding motorists, pass the registration numbers on to the police, and are then sent a warning letter. Letters to litter louts could include a standard fine which would fund it.

[TheDevil]

You couldn't prove the litter belonged to the registration owner.

[douglas9401]

I'm pretty sure you still have to actually prove a dastardly deed was done by a particular person before any punishment can be doled out though.
Finding a paper bag in a hedge doesn't seem to meet the evidential rules threshold for levying a fine.

[CrapAtCryptics]

i like the idea but enforcing it would be a nightmare, maybe time and date as well would make it easier.

[hc4361]

All the appeals against the fine would cost more than is generated by the fine.
The driver would say it wasn't them that dropped the litter, they weren't even in the car and they can't remember who was driving that day; it was their 7 year old and they couldn't stop because there was nowhere safe to stop/they were on the motorway; it wasn't them - they put it in the bin, it must have blown away when the bin was emptied.....

[hc4361]

Interestingly, the householder is liable if the rubbish he paid to have taken away is flytipped by a rogue company. There has been successful prosecutions even though the householder truly believed the rubbish was being dealt with responsibly.
https://www.bedfordindependent.co.uk/900-in-fines-issued-after-waste-given-to-rogue-traders-found-fly-tipped/

[emmie]

good idea, though not sure how you would implement it.

[Khandro]

Such a drop in the ocean. Why doesn't the farmer start picking up litter & set a good example himself (as I do all the time).

An erstwhile president of Singapore (or was it H.K.?) levied a $100 fine on anyone found dropping chewing-gum on the streets & the problem stopped immediately.

[sunny-dave]

Much simpler to make all packaging bear the name of the seller/producer (most of it already does) and charge the sellers/producers for the collection of any litter bearing their logo.

The cost would then be passed on to all customers - which is unfair, but better than the current (lack of) responsibility. At least it might reverse the tide of disposable filth which has turned our road edges into mile after mile of midden.

[TheDevil]

The best option would be if all fast food restaurants as well as burger stands, coffee bars and similar all used biodegradable packaging. Those that didn't could be penalised which would influence them to make the change.

[hc4361]

Businesses already pay a lot of money to have their rubbish disposed of.

[david small]

This is so easily avoided, use a bin. The lazy, thoughtless oiks that leave their trash around should be made to eat it along with the junk food it contained. I detest such cretins.

[hc4361]

Some years ago I put stored some stuff in the loft in plastic carrier bags from the Co-Op. When I had reason to check them I discovered the bags were biodegradable and had, in fact, degraded :(

[naomi24]

//Why doesn't the farmer start picking up litter & set a good example himself (as I do all the time).//

Farmers do pick up litter - and more - constantly, Khandro. Old mattresses, fridges, any old junk - including something I saw the other day which was absolutely ridiculous…. a pile of black bin bags full of grass cuttings! These are things that must be transported in some sort of vehicle, so the question is if the culprits have to put this stuff in a vehicle to dump it on a field or country road, why don’t they take it straight to the council tip?

[emmie]

because they are too bloody lazy Naomi