Retailers across Dorset are being urged to stop selling single-use barbecues following a sharp increase in heathland fires.
Litter Free Dorset and Dorset Council have issued a joint letter to national and local retailers asking them to take action this summer. It comes as new Public Spaces Protection Orders are now in place banning open flames, including barbecues, across many parts of the county.
Between January and July, Dorset Heaths recorded 55 fire incidents across 27 sites, affecting more than 65 hectares of land. That’s a 41% rise in incidents and nearly eight times the amount of heathland burned compared to the same period last year.
Retailers including Lidl, Waitrose, Aldi, M&S, Southern Co-op and a number of Dorset-based businesses have already stopped selling the items. Others are being encouraged to do the same.
Litter Free Dorset’s Emma Teasdale said single-use barbecues are “impossible to recycle, incredibly wasteful, and often abandoned while still hot,” leading to both injuries and wildfires.