Each summer we have the same debate — should Britain introduce an outright prohibition on cheap, single-use portable grills? So why are shops still allowed to stock products that pose a threat to human health, wildlife, and nature?
There are currently multiple active campaigns trying to drum up support for a UK-wide ban on cheap disposable BBQs. The basic mesh and foil-type that have been ubiquitous features of the city parks on sunny days since before most of us can remember.
The British Mountaineering Council claims that between 2007 and 2021, 77 square kilometres of the Peak District was destroyed by wildfires which began with a disposable BBQ. The problem is getting worse with dryer weather — 137 moorland wildfires were recorded in 2019, up from 16 in 2013, and many are believed to have originated with a single use outdoor grill set. Last week, a blaze in Hampshire became the latest example of this threat.
Last year, The Guardian ran a story which focused on human impact — kids needing skin grafts after walking across sand that had retained extreme heat from a disposable BBQ earlier the same day. A largely underreported risk factor that causes more serious injuries than the sharp metal edges of the kits themselves. Allison Ogden-Newton, CEO of Keep Britain Tidy, is just one of the parents quoted, conveying the severity of what happened to her son when went foot first onto a beach that had silently been hoarding heat beneath its surface.
‘They’re’ the worst of all possible forms of litter,’ she explained at the time. ‘They say you shouldn’t touch them for eight hours after use. Nobody who buys a so-called disposable barbecue intends to stay with it for eight hours. Even after being covered with water, they can reignite. People put sand on them to try to extinguish them, and that sand and the sand underneath the barbecue gets heated to such a degree that it can burn flesh a long time after the barbecue is over.’
Now BusinessWaste.co.uk is getting in on the same act, calling for a total ban on all outdoor BBQ sets in a bid to cut the hundreds of thousands which wind up in UK landfill every year. According to the waste processing specialist, despite sustained pressure on retailers to pull stock, this year many of the supermarkets which have pledged to remove these items from their stores are continuing to sell them.
‘We have been campaigning against the use and sale of disposable BBQs for years. The product is extremely wasteful and damaging to our local environment. Every year, we continue to see news reports of the damage done by the use of disposable products and boycotts have proved to be fleeting,’ said Mark Hall, Director at BusinessWaste.co.uk.
‘In 2026, we really need to see an all-out ban put in place,’ he continued. ‘There is no reason for these products to remain on sale when much more environmentally friendly and cost-effective alternatives are available. A ban would protect our green spaces, local wildlife and stop hundreds of thousands of disposable BBQs clogging our landfills. We would encourage the public to support this by signing the petition, sharing with friends and writing to local MPs.’
A number of local authorities have already introduced outright ban on single-use BBQs within public spaces. Examples include Brighton & Hove, Canterbury, Dorset, Hounslow, Hillingdon, Havering, Stratford-on-Avon, and Swindon councils. A number of national parks and protected moorland locations are also subject to heavy restrictions.
You can sign the petition here.
Image: Dom . / Unsplash
More on BBQs:
Wildfire risk for Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, Essex, Kent, Lancashire homes
UK fire services warn of the environmental destruction caused by wildfires