Litter

What is litter?

In law, a person is guilty of an offence if they throw down, drop or otherwise deposit and leave any item which spoils a public place. Because of this, the word ‘litter’ is open to a wide interpretation in legal terms.

Encams, the environmental charity which runs the Keep Britain Tidy campaign, describe litter as ‘waste in the wrong place caused by human agency’ which means that people create litter.

Litter can take a number of forms and in some circumstances can be hazardous. In most cases litter is unpleasant, expensive to clean up and can often be prevented.

The Message

Different people have different views on what ‘littering’ means and what exactly counts as littering. For example, some people might take the view that dropping chewing gum or a drinks can is unacceptable, but those same people might not necessarily see anything wrong with throwing a single cigarette butt or a tissue on the floor.

Why do people litter?

There are lots of excuses why people litter, which include:

       It’s someone else’s fault
       “There aren’t enough bins provided, so what else am I supposed to do?”

       Lack of education
       “In my day we were taught not to litter, and to take our rubbish home or put it in a bin. Young people aren’t
       taught that anymore”.

       Someone else will clean it up
       “It’s the council’s job to clean the streets, so it’ll get cleared up eventually”.  

       An area is dirty or rundown
       “There’s loads of litter round here so it’s not going to make any difference if I drop some more”.

       Laziness
       “The bin was really far away, I couldn’t be bothered to walk all the way over there”.

The Consequences of Littering

• Litter generally doesn’t look or smell good.
• Litter can be hazardous and harmful to public health.
• Litter can take years to decay, and in some cases won’t decay at all, creating a permanent problem to the environment.
• Litter can harm and kill wildlife.
• Research suggests that in areas where littering is a problem, there is a higher likelihood that other incidents of enviro-crime will take place such as graffiti and fly-tipping.
• Littered areas can have a negative impact on the community and tourism.  

Break the Rules and Pay the Price

If you are caught littering you may be issued with a Fixed Penalty Notice for £75. Fixed Penalty Notices are issued as an alternative to prosecution. This means that if you receive a Notice and choose not to pay it, you could face a higher fine or be prosecuted which will result in a criminal conviction.

Tips

The Bay Team’s top tips for being litter savvy are:

• If you can’t find a public litter bin, try to take your litter home and dispose of it there.
• Put bins and bin bags out on collection days to avoid litter being spilled out onto the streets.
• If you know you’re going to be creating litter (for example having a picnic on the beach) take a bag with you so that it is easier to dispose of.

To find out more check out the fact sheets available on our Downloads page