Northern Rail on track for tackling newspaper litter
07 January 2010
Keep Britain Tidy today praised Northern Rail for a new campaign launched combating newspaper litter on trains.
Posters asking passengers to bin their papers rather than leave them strewn in carriages have gone up this week.
Northern Rail is working in partnership with the Metro newspaper which is handed out to passengers free at train stations across the country.
Every weekday 1.3 milllion copies of the Metro are distributed across the country to commuters making it the world’s largest free newspaper. Unfortunately some of these copies end up as litter, which is why the steps taken by both the Metro and Northern Rail is supported by the anti-litter charity Keep Britain Tidy.
Passengers are encouraged to recycle their newspaper and are reminded that leaving the newspaper on the train does count as littering.
Karen Booth, head of sustainability, Northern Rail said: "We work hard to provide our passengers with a clean and tidy on-train environment but one of the biggest sources of litter on trains is newspapers, often left behind after the morning commute. We're delighted to be working with Metro to encourage passengers to recycle their paper, rather than littering."
The posters are part of a wider campaign to encourage recycling newspapers at train stations.
Northern Rail and the Metro will be installing paper recycling bins at Manchester Victoria with the potential to roll this out to other train stations if the initiative proves successful.
Nicola Peate from Keep Britain Tidy said, “We are delighted that Northern Rail has taken such active steps to combat littering and its partnership with the Metro is exactly what we need to see from big companies who can really make a difference.
"The posters are eye-catching and fun and will really make an impact on what is becoming an increasingly big problem.”