Tackling waste crime is a key priority for local authorities
Key messages
Tackling waste crime is a key priority for local authorities. Successful local approaches ensure 73 per cent of residents are very or fairly satisfied with the street cleaning service their council provides.
Councils spend around £1 billion per year dealing with littering and fly-tipping, and cleaning up chewing gum alone costs the average town centre £60,000 per year (up to £56 million for 936 towns in England).
The LGA is calling for more powers that would ensure: local government continues to tackle effectively littering and fly-tipping; producers take more responsibility for the costs of littering; and councils are able to tackle and deter people from fly tipping through fixed penalty notices.