Supermarkets criticised after trolleys end up in canal

Aldi, Morrisons, and Tesco have been told to ‘get their act together’ by a litter picking group who keep having to haul supermarket trolleys out of a canal.

Along a stretch of the Rochdale canal in Failsworth, litter picking group Clean Up Failsworth Canal said they regularly have to drag trolleys out of the water as part of their impressive efforts to clean up the area. The group, which has been running for over 13 years, goes out once a month.

Armed with litter pickers and dozens of bags, the team regularly find flytipped rubbish, drinks cans, and nitrous oxide or ‘laughing gas’ cannisters. On September 20, around 22 bags of rubbish had been filled and 26 cannisters were collected while 17 trolleys were fished out of the canal.

The trolleys, according to the group, are increasingly becoming a problem. In some areas such as under the bridge to the town’s Tesco car park, the dumped trolleys could even mean boats struggle to get through.

Sandra Ball, who represents Failsworth West for Reform UK, said: “Tesco, Aldi, and Morrisons the other end need to get their act together and get it sorted. The trolleys have always been a problem. We have taken 20 out in one session.”
She added: “At the end of the day, that cost comes back to us. They have got to pay for [new] trolleys.”

Coun Ball has been involved with the group for years. Supported by Oldham council and the Canal and River Trust, she said around 90 people involved in her Failsworth litter busting team.

Despite the efforts, she and others feel like it’s a ‘disheartening’ uphill battle, adding: “Within 10 minutes, someone else will have dropped something but if you do not keep on top of it, what would it look like?”

Lesley Halliday goes out regularly with her grandson Elliott Rigby, who was recently awarded a mayoral award for his efforts. She said: “It is frustrating.

“The most frustrating thing I have seen is you have cleaned it up and you look back and there has been dog poo bags dumped in the trees and you were only there just five minutes before. If you have a bag on you, why do you dump it in a tree?”

Speaking about the litter issues more widely, she said: “It generally is Morrisons, KFC, Aldi and Tesco. People go in and buy food and by the time they have got to the canal, where do they put their rubbish? They throw it in the canal.
“If this was in the Cotswolds, it would be beautiful.”

Despite the issues, she told the LDRS: “Its good for the environment. It’s good for the town and makes it a nicer place for people to walk through. I have been to lots of different places around the country and they look after the canal.

“It’s seen as a nice thoroughfare for people to enjoy. I am doing my little bit to give back to the community. It makes me happy.”

A Morrisons spokesperson: “As soon as we are made aware of any abandoned trolleys we will always make an effort to go and pick them up.”

A Tesco spokesperson said: “We encourage all customers to return their trolleys once they have finished their shop, both for others to use and because we don’t want them to cause any harm to the local environment.

“We use a specialist company to retrieve our trolleys, and we’d ask anyone who sees an abandoned Tesco trolley to use the Trolleywise website to report this or let the store know so we can get it back as soon as possible.”

The LDRS also understands store cleaning team regularly removes any litter from the store car park and walkways next to the store.

Aldi are also understood to have coin lock systems in place to help prevent trolley removal from our car parks. If trolleys are removed, the supermarket works with their partners, including Trolleywise, to collect them as quickly as possible.

KFC also carry out daily litter picks across their 1,000 restaurants across the UK and Ireland. There is also investment in more and larger bins in and around restaurants and carry out anti-littering marketing messaging. £45,000 has also been given out to litter picking groups.