Anti-littering campaign launched across Tameside

An anti- littering campaign will be launched across Tameside at the beginning of November. A poster with the image of a cigarette end wrapped in a £20 note will be displayed on the rears of buses operating across the Borough. This is to primarily target motorists who throw litter from vehicle windows. A survey carried out by ENCAMS (Environmental Campaigns) questioned the general public on the most annoying driver habits and littering came out top! The posters will also be displayed at the entrances and exits of licensed premises and on cigarette stub bins around the Borough.The idea of the campaign is not to focus on cigarette litter, even though research has shown that this particular type of litter has risen by 43% since 1 July 2007 and the introduction of smoke free legislation. The research also found that a large proportion of people surveyed did not regard cigarette ends as litter and believe them to be bio degradable, this is not true.Although this type of littering has increased significantly, the campaign also acknowledges that there is a need to reduce the amount of general litter and to make the public aware that dropping litter is an expensive habit which carries a fixed penalty of £50 or if found guilty by the courts a fine of up to £2,500.

Litter facts

Car and pedestrian litter
91% of litter found on England's streets is down to pedestrians and people throwing rubbish out of their vehicles. This adds up to £450 million being spent each year to clean up our streets
Keep Britain tidy research shows that people throw litter out of vehicles because they feel that they will not be seen or caught! This research also questioned the general public on the most irritating driving habits and litter came out top!

Dog Fouling
Dog fouling is consistently one of the highest sources of public complaints to MP's, Councillors and Local Authorities. Estimates put the dog population at between 6.5 and 7.4 million, producing over 1,000 tonnes of faeces every single day!

Smoking
Cigarettes are difficult to clean up. Butts fall into cracks in pavements, accumulate around grids, gutters etc. Filters are composed of cellulose acetate, a form of plastic which can persist in the environment as long as any other plastic. ENCAMS 2005 research identified that people do not class cigarette ends as litter - people think they are bio- degradable - they are not! It can take over 500 years for a cigarette end to break down in the environment; some research suggests that they never break down! Local Environmental Quality Survey 04/05 shows that cigarette ends could be found in 79% of all locations. It is estimated that 122 tonnes of cigarette butts, matches and smoking related litter is dropped every single day, with a clean up cost of £342 million. After the introduction of the Health Act 2006 ('smoke free legislation'), England suffered a 43% rise in cigarette litter. (ENCAMS - 14th September 2007) Cigarette litter makes up 40% of all litter found on our streets Litterers constantly argue that cigarette ends are not litter- they are wrong! The Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005 defined cigarette ends and smoking related materials as litter and has provided the local authority with powers to deal with those who litter our streets. The Local Authority has powers to serve litterers with fixed penalty notices of £50 or if found guilty in court a fine of up to £2,500 may be imposed.

Another great initiative by TMBC. Well done! I don’t want to sound too grovelling in my praise of this initiative or TMBC, but credit where credit is due. It is the little things like this that the dreadful councils such as Rochdale and Oldham fail to do that can make ordinary citizens realize that their thoughtless actions can lead to repercussions.
Tameside Citizen