The vast majority of pesticides used by UK local councils are herbicides (or ‘weedkillers’) aimed at removing plants from hard surfaces such as streets, pavements, pathways and on housing estates under council control. They are also used in green spaces, most notably parks, playgrounds, sports pitches, road verges and cemeteries. While councils do sometimes use fungicides and insecticides, usually on sports pitches and playgrounds, the amounts tend to be minuscule when compared to their herbicide use. It is for this reason we only asked councils about their herbicide use.
According to the UK government, there are currently 19 different herbicides being used by local authorities, four of which are classified as Highly Hazardous Pesticides (HHPs), meaning that they pose a particularly high risk to human health and/or the environment. By far the most widely used is glyphosate which makes up 96% of all the pesticide active substances applied by councils. As a result, it sometimes feels like the Pesticide-Free Towns movement is in fact campaigning to end the use of glyphosate in public spaces. However, there is no point in stopping the use of glyphosate to simply transition over to using other synthetic herbicides commonly used in public spaces (such as 2,4-D or MCPA) which are often equally, or sometimes even more, toxic.