Tackling the litter menace

More than 400 people were fined for throwing litter from vehicles in North Lanarkshire in the last year.

The council has the power to issue fixed penalty notices to anyone dropping litter in the street or from a vehicle, and works with Town Centre Activities Ltd, using CCTV to catch those responsible for roadside littering.

On average, the council spends around £5 million a year on street cleaning and clearing fly-tipping.

The council supported the recent Roadside Litter Week of Action organised by Keep Scotland Beautiful to highlight the issue and encourage drivers to take their litter home.

“We carry out regular litter patrols on our road network and collect tonnes of rubbish each year, but this is difficult and dangerous, as our staff have to work very close to passing traffic,”said Councillor Michael McPake, convener of the infrastructure committee.

“The cause of the problem is simple; people throwing rubbish from their vehicles. So our message to them is very clear – take it home and put it in the bin.”

Keep Scotland Beautiful’s campaign states that across Scotland roadside litter and fly-tipping is at its worst in a decade with 50 tonnes of litter collected every month in this country. It is encouraging responsible residents to promote the message #Give Your Litter A Lift.

The quality of recyclable household waste being collected in North Lanarkshire continues to be high – and the council is thanking residents for their efforts.

The majority of waste taken to processing plants to be recycled has been rated in the highest two quality bands since the council introduced a new service last October.

Bin lorry loads are assessed by the processors on arrival to ensure that only the correct materials from household bins are included. If a load includes significant amounts of the wrong materials, this contaminates the whole load.

As a res u l t, the processor will either pay the council less for each tonne or charge the