This page tells you about litter and the problems it can cause. It includes infromation about littering from cars, dog fouling and cigarette litter
You may also like to look at our Flytipping page.
SPRING CLEAN CAMPAIGN
Mid Sussex District Council are aiming to help to reduce litter and to raise awareness of just how much gets dropped on local streets with our Spring Clean Campaign.
Litter can refer to anything from a small crisp packet or sweet wrapper to large bags of rubbish or even an area with many items of rubbish. Often people do not consider small items such as gum or even cigarette butts to be litter but these small pieces of rubbish are often some of the most littered items on our streets. Only 25% of people admit to dropping litter but it's a huge problem. All litter is unsightly and makes our local areas look untidy and uncared for, can cause environmental problems and your Council Tax has to pay to clean it up!
Come along to our road show and see just how much litter our street sweepers pick up in a day in the centre of one of our towns, courtesy of Sercos big Perspex box.
By coming along and entering a simple competition you could win a tasty Fair Trade hamper or a Fair Trade Easter egg!
You can also pick up information about waste reduction and the Love Food Hate Waste campaign.
Roadshows take place between 10am and 2pm at:
- East Grinstead High Street on Monday 29th of March.
- The Orchards Shopping Centre in Haywards Heath on Tuesday 30th of March.
- Church Walk Burgess Hill on Wednesday 31 March.
We look forward to seeing you there!
Under the The Offence of Leaving Litter (section 87 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990),littering is a criminal offence. This means that anyone caught dropping litter can be fined.
Litter is described by ENCAMS (Environmental Campaigns) as "Waste in the wrong place caused by human agency" - meaning it is created by humans.
People drop litter every minute of every day. The problem is huge - and costly to clear up.
Litter is unsightly - litter dropped around the district causes a blight on the landscape. Litter doesn't just disappear! If litter is not picked up, items will take many years to decompose. For example: -
- Banana skins / fruit peelings - 2 years
- Cigarette ends - 2 years
- Drinks cans - 80 - 100 years
- Plastic carrier bags - 10 years
- Glass - 100 000 years
- Plastic bottles - indefinite
Litter can also be dangerous - to people and to animals
RSPCA inspectors regularly rescue pets and wild animals trapped or hurt by litter. Animals are suffering unnecessarily due to carelessly discarded litter.
- Plastic can holders can choke - cut them into pieces
- Fishing line can strangle - especially birds
- Broken glass bottles can cut
- Balloons and plastic bags can kill
- Cans can trap
Don't litter - When you're out, make sure you use a litter bin and if there aren't any litter bins, take your litter home with you and dispose of it properly!
Mid Sussex District Council has a responsibility to clean up litter from public places - if you have any questions - email wastematters@midsussex.gov.uk
DOG FOULING
Dog owners have a responsibility to clean up after their pets.
Dog fouling is a serious problem. There are millions of dogs in the UK and they produce thousands of tonnes of faeces every day.
Dog faeces carries a worm called Toxocara. Humans can get infected with faeces carrying eggs of the parasiteas a direct consequence of soil or sand contamination . The parasite can last up to two years in soil or sand even after the faeces has degraded. Infection can last between 6 and 24 months and is dominant in children between 18 months and 5 years. Many infected soil samples are found in the vicinity of children's play areas. This infection can cause blindness.
It is not dangerous to clean up after your dog - you will not be infected by the Toxocara eggs as they are not infectious until they embryonate. This occurs at least 2 - 3 weeks after they have been deposited by your dog.
The Dogs (Fouling of Land) Act 1996 allows local authorities to designate most public land as poop scoop areas. Failure to clear up on designated land is an offence subject to a maximum fine of £1000.
Dog owners who fail to clean up after their pets are irresponsible and could be putting others at risk. The best way to clear up after you dog is to use a doggy bag or a carrier bag to pick up the faeces. This should then be placed in a dog bin.
CIGARETTE LITTER
Smoking related litter includes items such as cigarette butts, cigarette filters, matchsticks and discarded cigarette packets. Although individually small, items of smoking related litter tend to accumulate en masse, and are one of the most prolific types of litter having a negative effect on local environmental quality.
Smoking related litter is unsightly and difficult to clean up. The small filters fall into grates and cracks in the pavement, avoiding detection by normal cleaning processes. They accumulate around grids, gutters and other litter traps. The filters are composed of cellulose acetate, which like other forms of plastic, can persist in the environment for a significant period of time. There is no overall consensus, but there are suggestions that cigarette butts can take anywhere between 18 months to 500 years to break down into their raw ingredients and be absorbed back into the environment. The type of environment in which cigarette butts are present has a major effect on this timescale. However, what is clear is that once it exists, smoking related litter will not soon disappear naturally. Smoking related litter can also be dangerous - it leaks toxins into watercourses, posing a serious threat to wildlife, and the combination of a still burning cigarette end dropped into accumulations of litter is a significant fire hazard.
According to ENCAMS' Local Environmental Quality Survey of England 2006/07, smoking related litter was found in 78% of all locations surveyed. An estimated 122 tonnes of cigarette butts, matchsticks and other cigarette related litter are dropped every day across the UK. It costs an estimated £342 million per year to clean up the 200 million cigarette butts thrown away every day by UK smokers.
Over the last two years however, Keep Britain Tidy has campaigned to change the public's attitude and behaviour towards dropping cigarette litter. Last year, campaigns in June and September helped reduce cigarette litter by 33% and 23% respectively.
Portable ashtrays called 'Ashcans' are widely available in Tesco.
If you smoke please dispose of your cigarette ends sensibly in an appropriate ash tray.
CAR LITTER
Thoughtless drivers and their passengers are costing the taxpayer millions each year in clean up costs when they toss litter from their cars.
An anticipated 1.3 million bits of rubbish are dumped close to or on our roads every weekend (Highways Agency).
Throwing litter from moving vehicles is dangerous for other drivers and creates a mess and a hazard on our roadside verges.
Last updated 22/03/10
Downloads/Links
- Information about Flytipping
- Street cleaning and litter bins
- Big Tidy Up - find out how you can help with this national campaign
Contacts
Refuse & Recycling Team
Refuse & Recycling Team 01444 477440 or use our secure General Enquiry Form (
) to contact us with any queries you may have.
