Litter Strategy for England - April 2017

The Government has just published a strategy for dealing with the issues relating to litter and littering.

It can be found here: 'Litter Strategy for England - April 2017'

Its aims include:

• Sending a clear and consistent anti-litter message, by:
  • developing, seeking funding for, and delivering a world class national anti-littering campaign
  • developing an anti-littering culture which aims to educate young people not to litter
  • inspiring and engaging local communities, and empowering them to take action, including introducing a new ‘litter innovation fund’ to pilot, implement and evaluate small scale local research projects that could be replicated more widely
  • making a compelling business case for businesses of all kinds to invest in anti-litter activity
  • exploring voluntary and regulatory measures that aim to increase recycling and reduce litter - working with stakeholders to look at innovative ‘nudge’ techniques’ to tackle littering behaviour
• Improving enforcement against offenders, including:
  • delivering on our Manifesto commitment to review the case for increasing fixed penalties for littering and related offences
  • introducing new regulations to help councils tackle littering from vehicles
  • providing improved guidance for councils on how to use their enforcement powers proportionately and appropriately, and
  • raising councils’ and magistrates’ awareness of the range of sanctions available to tackle littering and fly-tipping.
• Cleaning up the country, including:
  • supporting national clean-up days
  • working with Highways England to put in place measures to deliver a lasting improvement in cleanliness at 25 priority litter hotspots on the Strategic Road Network, including updating the Code of Practice on Litter and Refuse to clarify the expected standards of cleanliness on the Network
  • producing new guidance on “binfrastructure” (the design, number and location of public litter bins and other items of street furniture) for local areas to help them reduce levels of litter
  • working with the relevant industries to tackle certain types of particularly problematic litter, including fast-food packaging, smoking-related litter and chewing gum
  • exploring the ways in which packaging and packaging design can contribute to reducing litter.