Litter
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Things you should know about litter!
- Littering is a criminal offence; you can be fined up to £2,500, or you may receive a fixed penalty notice.
- The offence is committed under Section 87 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
- There is no precise definition of litter. It can mean a small item (e.g. a chocolate wrapper) or larger item (e.g. a bag of rubbish) or items scattered around. Discarded food can be litter. The Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005 has included cigarette butts and chewing gum as litter.
- The littering offence applies to public open land e.g. roads, pavements, motorways, parks and beaches. Different laws apply to rubbish on private land.
- Drivers who throw litter from vehicles can be prosecuted. Vehicle registration details are taken and the authorities can trace the owner through the DVLA.
- About £342 million a year is spent by local authorities in England on street cleansing and litter clearance.
- We spend approximately £1.1 million to keep the streets of Poole clean.
- During the year 2002 approximately 2891 tonnes of litter were deposited on Poole’s streets and open spaces. That is equivalent to 20 kgs of litter or 3 large sacks filling a household bin, discarded by each person in Poole each year.
- That’s equivalent to 245 waste disposal lorries full of litter each year.
- If each person in Poole picked up just one piece of litter that would be equivalent to 1.5 tonnes of litter collected each day.
- Fly tipping – being potentially more serious and hazardous than littering is an offence under the waste legislation. On conviction the fine is up to £50,000 or twelve months imprisonment or both.
- Every day RSPCA inspectors rescue pet and wild animals trapped or hurt by litter.
Any litter takes a long time to disappear naturally, degradability depends on climate and circumstances, however estimated time spans are as follows:-
- Plastic bottles - Indefinitely
- Aluminium cans - 80 – 100 years
- Tin cans - 50 years
- Plastic bags - 10-20 years
- Cigarette ends - Up to 2 years
- Fruit - Up to 2 years
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