Litter

Litter and the environment

A major concern with litter is what happens to it once it has been discarded. Manufactured products take a very long time to break down or degrade on the ground. Much of the litter that is discarded these days is either coated with or made from plastic. This can take years to break down if at all. This is why we should reduce the amount of waste we produce, re-use as much as possible, recycle as much as possble and dispose of what is left responsibly.

The amount of litter in our city not only spoils the visual appeal of the city but also can be dangerous to local wildlife. Areas which are affected by litter problems can become targets for other anti-social activities, such as fly-tipping. Litter can bring an area down making it look neglected and dirty. It is also true to say that areas that become heavily littered,  tend to stay that way as people begin to take the attitude that there is no point in trying to keep it clean anymore.

A little litter does tend to attract a lot more litter. This creates a lot more problems than just dirty streets. Your help is needed to make the streets of our city cleaner. You can do this by: 

• Not dropping litter - use a litter bin or take it home with you. Remember dropping litter is a criminal offence.
• Not dropping chewing gum - 'wrap it up and bin it'. Chewing gum is very difficult and expensive to clean up.
• Not letting your dog foul - dog fouling is offensive.
• Not fly-tipping - take your unwanted household waste to either the Hanford or Burslem household waste and recycling centres.

Getting tough on litter louts

Leaving litter in a public place is an offence, which if caught can result in a £50 fixed penalty notice, which if not paid can result in a court appearance and a maximum penalty of £2500.  We also provide 7,800 litter bins troughout the city for you to put litter into, but even if they're full you have no excuse for not taking your litter home and disposing of it properly.

This is especially the case with drivers - the road is not your ashtray or litter bin.  We have to spend about £2 million of your Council Tax money every year on street cleaning to clear up after a minority of people who have no respect for either our environment or the majority of residents and visitors to our city.

Community litter projects

You may want to get involved in or organise a community litter event. One of the best ways to raise awareness of a litter problem and get the message over to those who drop litter is to get them invloved in collecting it up. Getting the community involved in litter-picks can be very rewarding. We offer residents assistance in these events by supplying items like litter-pickers, gloves and bags as well as collecting the full bags.  

How you can help

Standards have been set for the prompt and effective removal of litter. Whilst this action is very necessary, it is only a part of the treatment and does not provide a cure to the problem of littering.

Part of the problem is the amount of deliberate littering and fly-tipping which takes place within the city. In addition, littering may occur as a result of thoughtlessness. Sometimes the 'offender' will not even realise that he or she has done it.

Although it is our duty to remove litter from public land, everyone has a duty to protect our environment by not dropping litter in the first place. As a deterrent, the Government has increased the maximum penalty for the offence of dropping litter to £2,500.

We can all play a part in reducing the amount of litter in our city.

More information

For more advice and information about litter or other environmental issues, visit the Tidy Britain Group web site at www.encams.org