Fly-tipping Litter

Through the Leicestershire Resources and Waste Strategy 2022 – 2050 councils in Leicestershire have pledged to work together to reduce litter and fly-tipping across the county by educating residents and businesses about their duty of care to dispose of waste responsibly. To support this pledge councils have been shining a spotlight on the lasting environmental impact of litter as part of the initiative: “Litter Lives On ”.

Designed to raise awareness around the enduring presence of waste in our countryside, the campaign highlights how common litter items from crisp packets to plastic bottles can linger in the environment for hundreds of years, causing long-term damage to ecosystems and wildlife.

As a community, we must recognise that what we casually throw away today may still be damaging our environment decades from now.

Litter isn’t just an eyesore it’s a threat to wildlife, waterways, and the health of our planet.

Join us in making litter a thing of the past. Because every piece picked up is a step toward a cleaner, kinder world.

Here’s some interesting facts…

Plastic bottles can take up to 450 years to decompose.

vintage washing up liquid bottles

Polystyrene, often seen in foam cups, packaging, and insulation is not biodegradable and can take hundreds to thousands of years to decompose naturally.

Polystyrene food packaging from 1996 that has been littered on a public highway.

Glass is one of the most durable materials in existence. It doesn’t biodegrade like organic matter, and under natural conditions, it can take thousands to even millions of years to decompose. In fact, archaeologists have found glass artifacts from ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt that are still chemically intact after over 3,000 years.

Very old glass bottles that have been littered on the side of the highway

Littering is a criminal offence under the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

Local authorities can issue Fixed Penalty Notices up to £500 to anyone caught littering.  Litterers can also face a fine in court of up to £2,500.

Select your council to report littering:

  1. Blaby DC Report a Littering Offence – Blaby District Council
  2. Charnwood BC Community volunteer litter picking – Charnwood Borough Council
  3. Harborough DC Litter and graffiti | Litter and graffiti | Harborough District Council
  4. H&B BC How to report this to us | Litter dropped from a vehicle | Hinckley & Bosworth Borough Council (hinckley-bosworth.gov.uk)
  5. Leicester City Love Clean Streets (leicester.gov.uk)
  6. Melton BC Report a Problem – Melton Borough Council
  7. NWLDC Littering – North West Leicestershire District Council (nwleics.gov.uk)
  8. Oadby & Wigston BC Environmental Crime – Oadby and Wigston Borough Council (oadby-wigston.gov.uk)

Womble Community Groups

If you are curious about making a difference through litter picking and would like to find out further information, the Wombles Community Charity offer litter picking tips and information on how to get started. The website offers advice on litter picking equipment, staying safe while litter picking, picking litter on your own and how to safely dispose of your rubbish. There are also several useful FAQs.

The Wombles Community Charity also support a wide national network of local community groups where you can get involved, that aim to create a greener, leaner future, through community litter picking and raising environmental awareness.

Network of local community groups

Also in Fly-tipping Sub menu