McDonald's drive thru customers in Kildare slammed for 'throwing away litter'

Some people buying food at the McDonald’s drive thru in Naas have been attacked for throwing the packaging around  the car park.

The criticism came from Independent Ireland councillor Bill Clear who said they are “breaking the hearts of Tidy Towns people.”

He said Naas Tidy Towns volunteers had gathered some packaging half a kilometre from the drive thru, adding “hedgerows are destroyed."

He said cars should be recorded as they move through the drive thru, which is described as an "unnecessary American idea.”

A call for the proprietors of take away food operators to be assigned a unique number to appear on all packaging, was made by Cllr Tom McDonnell. He said a "registered identity number would prevent litter.”

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Cllr McDonnell claimed that the collection or prevention of  litter is the responsibility of the proprietor within 100 metres of the premises.

“They go to McDonald’s and they fire the packaging out the window,” he claimed.

Cllr Suzanne Doyle the responsibility for avoiding litter lies with the purchaser - not the retailer. She suggested that receipts could be placed in all bags and this might assist in identifying offenders.

Independent councillor Pádraig McEvoy said the business model of the drive thru is unsustainable because it promotes car use and creates litter and take away outlets were criticised by Cllr Tim Durkan for not providing bins for litter and instead relying on KCC to provide them.

However Cllr Bernard Caldwell said that there are many more types of litter that can be seen on roads throughout and most of it does not come from take away food.

KCC official Marian Higgins said the request needs “specific national legislation” and so can’t be done by KCC. Ms Higgins said an identity number is “unlikely to achieve the desired outcomes.”

Sehr added waste disposal is the responsibility of the customer and not the venue.

“For their part, operators of food and beverage outlets are required to provide adequate litter bins in the vicinity of their premises. This ensures customers have access to facilities for proper waste disposal.”

She also said KCC has run a poster-based campaign called “takeaway not throwaway” and these were distributed to retailers to raise awareness of the impacts of takeaway litter and to urge the public to be more responsible around it.