The Environmental Protection Act 1990 lays down strict standards for keeping public areas free of litter. These areas include town centres, residential areas, parks, playgrounds, schools and colleges, roads, railway embankments and canal towpaths.
It is in the interest of the local authority or other body responsible for clearing up, to take measures which reduce the amount of litter being dropped. Local authorities can take action against individuals and businesses who create litter, and have powers to get privately-owned areas cleaned up.
Any concerns about litter, dumping of refuse or fly-tipping of larger volumes of waste should first be passed on to the local authority. If the local authority or other organisation responsible for the area does not clear it up, any member of the public can take legal action to get a Litter Abatement Order, but this is likely to be time-consuming and complicated. The Tidy Britain Group can give advice.
Problem sites are likely to be those where the local authority or organisation responsible is slow to clear up, or various types of privately owned public space where the owner is difficult to trace, or is unwilling to take action. Owners of land in unofficial public use are also unlikely to take responsibility for clearance of litter and refuse.
Dropping litter and tipping refuse is an offence. Police Officers and Litter Wardens are empowered and trained to deal with offenders. Where local residents have information on persistent offenders or from noting vehicle registration numbers, this can be passed on to the police or the local authority.
As an awareness-raising project, or as part of a general anti-litter campaign, litter clearance days can be organised on sites which fall through the net of responsibility outlined above. Public open spaces, commons, woods, riverbanks and beaches are the most likely areas. The project should be organised in conjunction with the local authority and local landowners, who may help by providing skips, transport on site, or machinery for removal of heavy items. The Tidy Britain Group provide a kit between January and March each year for national Spring Clean week, which takes place annually in April. The kit includes refuse bags and tabards.
Litter collection is not suitable for young children, and all litter pickers should wear protective gloves. Any suspect materials including chemicals, asbestos, or medical waste should be left for removal by the local environmental health department.
Litter and fly-tipping are often the starting point of local action to clear up and look after local woods and open spaces, and many successful long-term projects have started in this way.
Although refuse dumping and fly-tipping are not to be encouraged, like many aspects of urban and industrial activity, it does have its benefits for wildlife. Piles of refuse such as metal, building rubble, timber, old furniture and household items provide a habitat not unlike a dry stone wall. The crevices provide shelter and hibernating places for small mammals, amphibians and reptiles, as well as nesting sites for birds. Where clearance is necessary for aesthetic reasons, and to discourage further tipping, it should be done in early autumn, before hibernation. The spring nesting season should be avoided. Clearance can also be selective, removing dangerous or unsightly objects, but leaving rubble, rotting timber or other relatively innocuous materials. Habitats can be replaced by creating piles of rubble or timber, or by building sections of dry stone wall or other features. Ironically, you may then encounter the problem of vandalism, so it may be best to make any ‘features’ look as uninteresting as possible.
Refuse dumping also has the effect of keeping some users away from a site, and thus leaving it mainly undisturbed and of greater benefit to wildlife than a more intensively used area. A further effect that observers of the urban wildlife scene may see as beneficial, is that many garden plants have colonised derelict urban land via the dumping of garden rubbish, helping to create an attractive and varied flora, of high value to invertebrates and birds. Purists may see this spread of non-natives differently. Piles of rotting garden refuse are also good habitats for small mammals, amphibians, reptiles and invertebrates.
However, these accidental benefits aside, the presence of any litter or refuse attracts further misuse and abuse of the site, and creates negative perceptions for most people not just of the site, but of the surrounding neighbourhood. Nearly all the accidental benefits noted above can happen in much better ways, and the best way of tackling any ‘throwaway’ problem is at its source by following the advice to ‘reduce, re-use, recycle’.
For further information on clearing rubbish and debris, see here. See also the Laurel Glen Project.
Tidy Britain Group provide an information and advice service on all aspects of litter, including the national Spring Clean, litter and the law, dog fouling, fly-tipping, waste management and recycling. Leaflets, factsheets, resources for teachers, videos and research reports are available.
