Anti-litter campaigners from Ealing say they’re fed up of the enormous mounds of plastic gloves left behind by drivers at a filling station in Northolt.
Volunteers from LAGER Can, the Litter Action Group for Ealing Residents, spent two hours cleaning up the area around the Shell petrol station after thousands of plastic gloves were seen strewn across a wide area around the White Hart Roundabout.
Ten volunteers returned sacks of littered gloves and rubbish to petrol station staff, requesting them to dispose of the litter and keep the problem under control.
The plastic gloves are reportedly given to drivers at the Northolt petrol station to protect their hands while filling up, and have become more popular with drivers concerned with hygiene since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
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(Image: Mark Percy)
Despite bins being provided on site, the gloves often end up discarded on the floor and are spread by wind into nearby bushes and woodland surrounding the Yeading Lane site.
According to the group, a sales assistant and security guard at the petrol station thanked LAGER Can for tidying and praised their community work.
LAGER Can’s Cathy Swift said: “The rubbish has been building up for years. We alerted Shell management to the problem last December. We’re calling on them to sweep the forecourt more regularly and put in better fencing to contain the gloves and other litter.
“Despite positive responses from the company, the situation clearly hasn’t improved, so we’re asking Ealing Council to take enforcement action.”
(Image: Mark Percy)
LAGER Can started in 2017 and saw a surge in membership during the first Covid lockdown.
The group, which has more than 1,600 volunteers, wants to make sure the area’s green spaces are as clean as possible by organising regular litter picking and clear-up events.
The volunteer organisation was even recognised for their efforts with a Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service.
A spokesperson from Royal Dutch Shell said: “Shell is aware of the issue of the accumulation of disposable gloves around this service station and is working closely with the Retailer to improve waste management systems.
“The team are doing their best to keep the site clean and tidy and are conducting regular litter picks to clear up any gloves that still escape the bins. We will continue to look for ways to improve this problem until it is resolved.”
According to the Carbon Majors database, Shell was the ninth biggest polluter in the world between 1988 and 2015.
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