Littering is an offence. The Environmental Protection Act 1990 covers littering, and littering from vehicles, with a maximum penalty of up to £2500.

When areas are kept clean it is often a sign that communities are active and safe, which deters crime and can promote visitors. So clean areas with regular litter picking benefit everyone!

Pet Owners

Many pet owners know that they need to clean up after their pets, but some do not. This leads to areas becoming spoilt or unsightly, and this may include discarded toys. Most parks and open spaces have bins to dispose of pet waste in a hygienic manner.

Keeping open spaces litter-free doesn’t just benefit people – the RSPCA receives more than 5000 calls a year about animals affected by litter. Littering, fly tipping and other illegal dumping also attract vermin.

Dog fouling is a crime  – under the Anti-Social Behaviour Crime and Policing Act 2014, you can be fined up to £1000 for not cleaning it up in a public space.

Business Owners and Landlords

Businesses come in all shapes and sizes, but a common feature is that disposal of waste can be a challenge. Whether it is a matter of effectively managing day to day waste, disposing of confidential matter securely or more extensive changes to buildings, it can be time-consuming for facilities managers to keep areas clean.

However, it really matters – clean areas are safer and easier to navigate which leads to more efficient businesses.

Employees also feel safer and happier in clean environments, which makes them up to 8% more productive!

It also matters how you keep your areas litter-free. Providers such as Yes Waste Ltd are required to provide Waste Transfer Notes with the threat of up to £5000 in fines if found transporting controlled waste illegally. This could include household, industrial and commercial waste .

Event Organisers

Even events which have relatively small numbers of people attending can create significant amounts of litter. Additionally, visitors can have less attachment to an area which means they may be more likely to drop litter.

Councils are allowed to place restrictions on event licenses with regard to littering, including requiring the organiser to clean up afterwards. Breaking the conditions can lead to fines of up to £2500.

Community and Government Leaders

If you feel you have a problem with litter picking in your area, either contact the owner of the land in question, or your local council. Yes Waste is more than happy to come and collect waste and we’ll arrange for it to be disposed of legally and recycled where possible.

If you know somewhere that could use a litter clean-up get in touch with Yes Waste, through our website or send a picture using our Facebook Page.

West Yorkshire Litter Picking

Council Contacts

Report a litter problem or find out more information on how councils in West Yorkshire deal with litter by using the links in the table below:

Council Who to contact
Bradford City Council https://www.bradford.gov.uk/transport-and-travel/report-issues/report-litter/
Calderdale Council https://www.calderdale.gov.uk/v2/residents/community-and-living/clean-streets/litter
Kirklees Council https://www.kirklees.gov.uk/beta/transport-roads-and-parking/street-maintenance.aspx
Leeds City Council https://www.leeds.gov.uk/residents/environmental-health/litter-street-cleaning-and-dog-fouling

 

Other Litter-picking activity

As well as the councils, some community groups have also taken it upon themselves to make a difference by litter picking in their area.

Some of these are listed below.

Area Group name Contact
Guiseley Litter-Free Guiseley Litter Free Guiseley Website
Calderdale Litter Champions (part of Calderdale Council) https://twitter.com/litterchampions

If you’d like to add your litter picking group to this list, please let us know by emailing info@yeswaste.com