Litter presents a serious safety risk and besides it being
unsightly, it’s also a risk to wildlife and the environment.
Around 200,000 bags of litter are collected from the motorway
network every year, and that is why Highways England is taking
part in Keep Britain Tidy’s campaign to help encourage drivers to
keep the country clean. Last year 20,000 bags were collected from
our network during the Great British Spring Clean.
Highways England’s head of customer and operational requirements
Freda Rashdi said:
The simple fact is that if litter wasn’t dropped in the first
place it wouldn’t need to be picked up. Litter is not only
unsightly and a risk to wildlife and the environment, but it
also puts our workers at risk collecting it and it diverts time
and money that could be better spent on improving the network.
Litter is an important national issue and we’re pleased to be
able to support the Great British September Clean arranging
extra litter picks to coincide with the campaign and by urging
people to take their litter home.
The Great British September Clean campaign takes place between 11
to 27 September, however Highways England picks litter throughout
the year.
Deputy Chief Executive at Keep Britain Tidy Richard McIlwain
said:
Rubbish, dangerously thrown from vehicles and left to rot on
our roads, is a national disgrace. This degrading litter isn’t
just unsightly it damages wildlife which has taken refuge along
these valuable wildlife corridors that are currently punctuated
by chucked food and drink packaging and millions of flicked
cigarette butts. That’s why we welcome Highways England getting
involved in this year’s Great British September Clean and see
this as an important step in tackling arguably one of Britain’s
worst forms of littering.
Their work clearing up the mess left by mindless road-users is
costly, puts workers lives at risk and remains a never-ending
task. That’s why we want to use this campaign as a springboard
to a longer-term partnership that will increase campaigning to
raise awareness that stops people tossing litter from vehicles
once and for all.
For more information on the Great British September Clean visit
the Keep Britain Tidy
website
