PLASTIC bottles, cans, sandwich wrappers, crisp packets and cigarette butts were among the many items picked up by colleagues from York-based veterinary group this month.

 VetPartners has taken part in the nationwide Great British Spring Clean, staged by Keep Britain Tidy.

The campaign runs during March 15 to 31 and aims to raise awareness of the environmental harm caused by litter and encourages the public to help tackle the issue by seeing how many bags of litter they can pick up..

Staff from VetPartners based at their head office at Spitfire House in Clifton Moor, York collected 12 bags of rubbish nearby, with four bags of items to be recycled. The most usual finds included hubcaps and an air fryer.

The litter pick is one of many environmental activities VetPartners staff are involved in as part of the company's sustainability strategy.

VetPartners Head of ESG Hannah James said: “We love doing litter picks every year as they’re a way we can give back to our local community that both our central support office is in and many of our colleagues also live in.

“To me, it’s an excellent example of ‘being the change you want to see in the world,’ whilst we haven’t caused the litter problem, we’ll take some action to solve it anyway because it benefits others around us.

“It’s also a positive thing to do environmentally. Litter is incredibly harmful as it kills millions of wild animals every year in the UK.

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“Litter picking is an action we can take that has an immediate positive effect for people, animals and the planet, and there’s something quite satisfying about seeing the number of bags of rubbish that VetPartners colleagues manage to collect every year.”

Operations Director Tim Shearman, one of the litter pick volunteers, added: “In the midst of our busy working lives, I think it’s really important, if possible, to make time for team activities like these that benefit the environment as well as wildlife and the local community. Giving back, even if it’s just in a small way, not only helps others but also makes you feel good too.”

VetPartners was the first UK veterinary group to provide zero waste boxes for all of its sites in England, Scotland and Wales. Over the last three years, VetPartners practices have recycled 14,050kg of waste through TerraCycle, including surgical gloves, gowns and masks, and so far, 5,851,764 items have been saved from going into landfill.

The initiative, introduced in 2020, is part of the wider sustainability goals outlined in VetPartners sustainability strategy.