Disposable BBQs

Planet Wimborne joins Dorset Council call for shops to stop selling disposable BBQs

Planet Wimborne has campaigned for the ban of disposable BBQs in the area and fully supports the work of Dorset Council and Litter Free Dorset to get retailers to stop selling them. We ask everyone not to buy or use disposable BBQs and instead, for example, take a picnic when out and about enjoying the countryside.

Dorset Council said stores should follow voluntary guidelines from the British Retail Consortium, which say retailers will “respond to reasonable, evidence-based requests to remove BBQs from sale” and should consider removing them “once an extreme heat event has been declared as imminent”. The good news is some large supermarket chains have already opted not to stock disposable BBQs for environmental reasons.
Litter Free Dorset (https://www.litterfreedorset.co.uk/projects-campaigns/ban-the-flaming-things/), which is supported by the council and other organisations, said some retailers are ignoring the guidelines.

Coordinator Emma Teasdale said: “In June we saw amber and red extreme heat warnings issued by the Met Office, and retailers continued to sell disposable barbecues that are clearly a fire risk.”

The county currently has a “very high” fire severity index rating according to Natural England, which is one tier below the top rating of “exceptional”.

Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service has previously identified disposable barbecues as the cause of wildfires, such as one which devastated part of Studland Heath in 2022. The risk of wildfires following the third heatwave this year and with the start of the school holidays is extremely high.

Please let Planet Wimborne and/or Litter Free Dorset know if you spot disposable BBQs on sale at a shop in the area. It would also be great if you asked the store manager to stop selling them (but only if you feel able to do so), as the more people who point out the risk the better.