Policy paper

Litter strategy for England: at a glance

Updated 23 July 2018

This was published under the 2016 to 2019 May Conservative government

We want to reduce the amount of litter that gets into our rivers and seas. That means we need to work together to stop people dropping litter.

Our strategy sets out, in detail, how we in government will work with communities and businesses to reduce litter. We will also create a new way of monitoring how much litter there is in England, to help us know whether the strategy is working.

This page summarises what the strategy says we will be doing between now and 2020.

1. Sending a clear message

We will:

• work with others to run a national anti-litter campaign
• help people to clear up litter in their local areas
• encourage young people to care about their local area
• make sure that schools have what they need to teach about litter
• encourage businesses to work with others to deal with local litter problems
• ask businesses to think about designing their products and packaging in ways which will reduce litter
• look for new ways to encourage more recycling and reducing litter

2. Cleaning up the country

We will:

• work to reduce litter on the country’s major roads
• make it as easy as possible for people to get rid of their rubbish properly
• work with organisations to make sure they have the right facilities to get rid of litter
• help councils in deciding where bins should be placed, what types to use and how many are needed
• make sure the code of practice for litter and refuse is clear and up to date
• support and encourage people sharing their experience of what works to reduce littering

3. Improving enforcement

We will:

• ask people if we should increase the fines for dropping litter (and for similar crimes like graffiti and putting up posters illegally)
• give local councils powers to fine vehicle owners if litter is thrown from it
• provide guidance to local authorities on using these powers appropriately