OUGD102 - Collection 100

Facts about Litter in Leeds.

Leeds’ population

• 750,000 people make Leeds the second-largest metropolitan district in England.

Business in Leeds

• 112,000 people work in the city’s financial and business sectors
• Leeds is the UK’s third-largest manufacturing centre, with 1,800 companies employing over 39,000 people. It has recognised strengths in advanced engineering, printing, chemicals and food industries
• The city is fast developing as a centre for the new, online economy.
• The city's media, communications & advertising sector is growing by about 10% a year.

Leeds’ economy

• The city has the most diverse economy in the UK
• Leeds has a GVA of £15.4bn
• Around a third of GVA is generated by the financial & business services sectors.

Transport in Leeds

• Leeds Bradford International Airport serves 70 destinations in 30 countries, including North America and Asia
• Leeds is linked by road to London and Edinburgh via the M1 and A1 and to the east and west coast ports via the M62
• London Kings Cross can be reached by rail in just over two hours
• Manchester International Airport can be reached in just over an hour by road or direct rail link.

Telecommunications

• BT regards Leeds as its second city, so advanced is the design and efficiency of equipment. It is the headquarters of BT Applied Technology and of BT's Northern Region which covers the whole of the north of England and Scotland
• Across the city, all BT exchanges are broadband-enabled, providing both homes and business with fast track access to the internet
• Thorpe Park, one of the largest business parks in Europe, has been selected as one of BT's strategic eLocations. Premises are pre-equipped with the latest telecommunications infrastructure, including robust dual optical-fibre network.

Tourism and leisure in Leeds

• Leeds is home to the West Yorkshire Playhouse (staging more productions each year than any other theatre outside London), Opera North, the Northern Ballet and the Phoenix Dance Company
• The city centre has 2 miles of traffic-free shopping and over 1,000 shops
• Leeds is one of the greenest cities in Europe, with greenbelt land covering over two-thirds of its total area
• The city centre is less than 20 miles from the Yorkshire Dales National Park
• Leeds was named ‘Best Place in Britain to Live’ by Henley Management Centre
• It was also named ‘The UK’s Favourite City’ by Condé Nast Traveller Magazine.

Education in Leeds

• Leeds is one of the top student destinations in the UK and the University of Leeds is one of the UK's top ten research universities
• There are over 200,000 students here, 64,000 of whom are degree students at Leeds’ two internationally acclaimed universities
• Leeds Metropolitan University is home to the largest business school of its kind, and is rated in the top 50 globally
• The Independent called Leeds the ‘Best UK University Destination’.

Litter facts.

Litter statistics
• The council clears around 800 tonnes of litter and waste from the streets each year

• The cost of cleaning up street litter, flyposting, graffiti etc. is now over £700,000 a year in Cheltenham.

Fly tipping
Fly tipping is on the increase. In Cheltenham there are over 600 incidents of fly tipping each year – everything from sofas, mattresses, white goods, car batteries, tyres, car parts, Christmas trees, builders’ rubble and even dead animals are dumped on verges, ditches and roadsides.

Facts
• The most commonly-found litter is cigarette ends, followed by sweet and food wrappers.

• An estimated 122 tons of cigarette butts and cigarette-related litter is dropped every day across the UK.

• More than 100,000 trolleys go astray from supermarkets each year. Many end up obstructing paths, spoiling beauty spots or polluting rivers and ponds. The yearly cost is some £5m nationally.

• Any type of litter takes a long time to disappear naturally, so whatever the material the right thing to do is not to drop it in the first place.
Degradability depends on climate and circumstances, but under unfavourable conditions estimated time spans can be as long as:-

– Plastic bottles - indefinitely
– Aluminium cans 80–100 years
– Tin cans 50 years
– Glass indefinitely
– Plastic bags 10–20 years
– Cigarette butts up to 2 years
– Orange peel/banana skins up to 2 years

Litter and the law
• "Littering" is a criminal offence. You can be fined up to £2,500, though not jailed. The average fine is around £90, plus court costs. Cases are tried in magistrates' courts.

• The offence is committed under Section 87 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

• There is no precise definition of litter. It can mean anything from a crisp packet to a sack of rubbish or discarded food.

• Local authorities can appoint officers to issue a £50 Fixed Penalty Fine for littering. If it is not paid within 14 days the offender can be taken to court.

• Drivers are the worst litterers. Research shows that people feel non-accountable in a car and can’t be identified. People who throw litter from vehicles can be prosecuted. Vehicle registration details are taken and the authorities can trace the owner through the DVLA.

• Businesses that dump rubbish on pavements (other than for official collection) can be fined for littering. So can householders.

How Leeds is combating an increase in litter.



Litter binsWe provide and empty litter bins in public areas throughout Leeds. Depending on how busy the area is, we arrange for bins to be emptied either daily or two or three times a week.
Fixed penalty notices
There is a £75 fixed penalty for people who drop litter, including cigarette ends, chewing gum and flyers left on vehicle windscreens and for motorists who throw litter out of their vehicles or allow their passengers to do so. Failure to pay will result in prosecution leading to a fine of £2500.
Street cleaning
We also sweep streets regularly to keep them clean. If there is an emergency such as spillage from a vehicle or large volumes of litter at any one location, the emergency services contact us and we clear up the mess.
To find out which day your street will be cleaned, open up the street cleaning schedule attached to this page. Hold down the Ctrl button (at the bottom left of your keyboard) and F together. Type in the street name you want to look at. Click on search and you will see a calendar which will tell you the date.


 Fly tippers will be prosecuted in Leeds if we can prove they have illegally dumped waste. They can be required to pay full clean up costs to the council plus a fine of up to £50,000 and up to five years imprisonment. Fly tipping is an arrestable offences and vehicles used in such offence can be seized by the council and other authorities.

If an area is continually used for fly tipping, we and the Environment Agency have technology which allows them to carry out surveillance of sites.