Editing Litter (section)

==Solutions==
[[File:No littering.svg|thumb|upright|"No littering" sign as used in the U.S.]]
[[File:Avfallspåsar - Ystad-2020.jpg|thumb|Holder for waste bags at a playground in central [[Ystad]] 2020, an initiative of the municipality to stop littering in public places]]

===Litter bins===
{{Main|Waste container}}
[[File:DeutscheBahnRecycling20050814 CopyrightKaihsuTai Rotated.jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[Recycling bin|Recycling]] and [[Waste container|rubbish bin]] at a German [[Train station|railway station]]]]

Public waste containers or street bins are provided by local authorities to be used as a convenient place for the disposal and collection of litter. Increasingly both general waste and recycling options are provided. Local councils collect the waste and take it for reuse or recycling. However, there are some problems with this approach; if the bins are not emptied regularly, then the bins will overflow and can increase litter indirectly. Some local authorities will only take responsibility for rubbish that is placed in the bins, which means that litter remains a problem. People may blame a lack of well-placed bins for their littering. Hazardous materials may often be incorrectly disposed of in the bins and they can encourage [[dumpster diving]].

===Cleanup===
[[File:US Navy 090917-N-1783P-001 Naval Nuclear Power Training Command student volunteers dispose of used tires littering the waterways of Naval Weapons Station Charleston.jpg|thumb|upright|Navy sailors remove and dispose of used tires littering the waterways of a naval base in [[Charleston, South Carolina]].]]Volunteers, sometimes alone or coordinated through organizations, pick up litter and dispose of it. [[Clean up events]] may be organized in which participants will sometimes comb an area in a line to ensure that no litter is missed. Organizations may promote litter cleanup events and may also have separate media campaigns to prevent littering. In [[North America]], [[Adopt a Highway]] programs are popular, in which companies and organizations commit to cleaning stretches of road. [[Keep America Beautiful]] has held litter cleanups called the Great America Cleanup since 1998 in over 20,000 communities nationwide.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.kab.org/great-american-cleanup/about-great-american-cleanup|title=About the Great American Cleanup|date=2016-01-25|website=www.kab.org|access-date=17 July 2019|archive-date=2019-07-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190718050745/https://www.kab.org/great-american-cleanup/about-great-american-cleanup|url-status=dead}}</ref> Earth Day cleanups have been held globally since 1970. In 2019, [[Earth Day|Earth Day Network]] partnered with [[Keep America Beautiful]] and [[National Cleanup Day]] for the inaugural nationwide Earth Day CleanUp. Cleanups were held in all 50 States, 5 US Territories, 5,300 sites and had more than 500,000 volunteers.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.earthday.org/2019/04/26/500000-volunteers-take-part-in-earth-day-2019-cleanup/ |title=Earth Day 2019 CleanUp |date=26 April 2019 |access-date=2019-07-18 |archive-date=2019-08-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190828221804/https://www.earthday.org/2019/04/26/500000-volunteers-take-part-in-earth-day-2019-cleanup/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last= |title=Song chắn rác |trans-title=Trash barrier |url=https://vietaco.vn/song-chan-rac/ |access-date=2025-05-14 |website=vietaco.vn}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.snewsnet.com/press-release/earth-day-network-launches-great-global-clean-up-2019 |title=Earth Day Network Launches Great Global Clean Up |date=4 April 2019 |access-date=2019-07-18 |archive-date=2019-12-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191223154822/https://www.snewsnet.com/press-release/earth-day-network-launches-great-global-clean-up-2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> Commercial properties such as retail, office and industrial have litter picking maintenance programs. This service may be provided by property owners or contracted to various service providers by property management companies acting on owner's behalf. Litter picking is performed on foot using simple hand tools. A worker will walk the sidewalks, parking lot and landscape and sweep up litter material into a litter collection tool. Contents are emptied into a waste bin on job site. In [[Kiwayu]], a Kenyan island, some of the collected litter (flip-flops) is used to make art, which is then sold.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theffrc.com/|title=theffrc.com|website=www.theffrc.com|access-date=27 March 2018|archive-date=23 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180323160054/http://theffrc.com/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.swahili-imports.com/home/si3/page_5146/uniqueco__the_flip_flop_project.html |title=UniquEco: The Flip Flop Project &#124; Artisans |publisher=Swahili-imports.com |access-date=2012-11-06 |archive-date=2012-09-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120929005610/http://www.swahili-imports.com/home/si3/page_5146/uniqueco__the_flip_flop_project.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Litter traps===
[[File:Litter trap.jpg|thumb|right|A [[Parks Victoria]] litter trap on the river to catch floating rubbish on the [[Yarra River]] at [[Birrarung Marr]] in [[Melbourne]], [[Australia]]]]
Litter traps can be used to capture litter as it exits stormwater drains into waterways. However, litter traps are only effective for large or floating items of litter and must be maintained. A recent watershed litter survey showed a difference in the composition of street litter and stormwater litter.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Litter watchers see a tidier United States Litter watchers see a tidier United States |url=http://www.erplanning.com/uploads/2015_Anacostia_Watershed_Litter_Survey_-_Final_Report.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160108143240/http://www.erplanning.com/uploads/2015_Anacostia_Watershed_Litter_Survey_-_Final_Report.pdf |archive-date=2016-01-08 |access-date=2015-12-09}}</ref>

===Monitoring dumping sites===
Increasingly, there have been efforts to use technology to monitor areas prone to dumping. In [[Japan]], a study used [[Geographic Information System]]s (GIS) to map areas of dumping based on site characteristics.<ref>{{Cite journal
 | pmid = 16531036
| year = 2007
| last1 = Tasaki
| first1 = T
| title = A GIS-based zoning of illegal dumping potential for efficient surveillance
| journal = Waste Management
| volume = 27
| issue = 2
| pages = 256–67
| last2 = Kawahata
| first2 = T
| last3 = Osako
| first3 = M
| last4 = Matsui
| first4 = Y
| last5 = Takagishi
| first5 = S
| last6 = Morita
| first6 = A
| last7 = Akishima
| first7 = S
| doi = 10.1016/j.wasman.2006.01.018
| bibcode = 2007WaMan..27..256T
}}</ref> Another study used satellite images to detect possible illegal dumping sites.<ref>{{Cite journal
| year = 2009
| last1 = Kosako
| first1 = A
| title = Detection of Illegal Dumping Sites by Using Vegetation Index and Land Surface Feature from High Resolution Satellite Images
| journal = Journal of the Remote Sensing Society of Japan
| volume = 29
| issue = 3
| pages = 497–514
| last2 = Miyazaki
| first2 = S
| last3 = Inoue
| first3 = U
| last4 = Tasaki
| first4 = T
| last5 = Osako
| first5 = M
| last6 = Tamura
| first6 = M
| doi = 10.11440/rssj.29.497
}}</ref>

===Container deposit legislation===
[[Container-deposit legislation|Container deposit legislation]] can be aimed at both reducing littering and also encouraging picking up through local recycling programs that offer incentives, particularly for [[aluminium recycling|aluminium cans]], [[glass recycling|glass bottles]] and [[plastic recycling|plastic bottles]]. In [[New York (state)|New York]], an expanded bottle bill that included plastic water bottles increased recycling rates and generated 120 million dollars in revenue to the state General Fund from unclaimed deposits in 2010.<ref>{{cite web |title=New York's 'Bottle Bill' Brings in $120M |url=http://www.bottlebill.org/news/articles/2010/NY-11-3-NYsBBBringsIn.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131111223344/http://www.bottlebill.org/news/articles/2010/NY-11-3-NYsBBBringsIn.htm |archive-date=November 11, 2013 |access-date=May 16, 2012}}</ref>

In some countries such as Germany and the Netherlands, [[container-deposit legislation]] has been introduced on cans and plastic bottles. Parts of Belgium are also considering adopting such legislation.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.standaard.be/cnt/dmf20140819_01222742|title=Wallonië wil statiegeld op blik invoeren|work=De Standaard|date=19 August 2014 |access-date=2014-08-25|archive-date=2014-08-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140826133734/http://www.standaard.be/cnt/dmf20140819_01222742|url-status=live}}</ref> People can thus collect [[Container deposit legislation|refund value money]] from this type of waste. The result of this is that in [[Germany]], hardly any cans or plastic bottles can still be found along the road. In the Netherlands, the amount of litter has dropped considerably since the new law was implemented, and 95% of the plastic bottles are now recycled. According to Chris Snick, the revenue that can be obtained from waste picking can be financially profitable in countries where container deposit legislation has been introduced: in 1 hour he managed to pick up 108 cans and 31 plastic bottles, earning him 13.90 euro (€0.10 per can/plastic bottle).<ref>Het Nieuwsblad, 23 august 2014; "13.90 euro voor wat gedeulte blikjes, geen slecht uurloon"</ref> By comparison, in countries where only the value of the aluminum for example would be refunded, 139 cans would yield only 1.72 euro (0.0124 euro per can; assuming there is 15 grams of aluminum in a can, and with scrap aluminum valued at 0.8267 euro/kg<ref>{{cite web|url=http://recraigslist.com/2013/10/how-to-make-money-selling-scrap-metal/|title=How To Make Money Selling Scrap Metal|access-date=2014-08-25|archive-date=2014-04-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140404204959/http://recraigslist.com/2013/10/how-to-make-money-selling-scrap-metal/|url-status=live}}</ref>).

===Fines===
[[File:No littering sign in Cape Cod.jpg|thumb|upright|No littering sign at a highway in [[Cape Cod]], Massachusetts]]
Some countries and local authorities have introduced legislation to address the problem.

Actions resulting in fines can include on-the-spot fines for individuals administered by authorised officers in public or on public transport or littering from a vehicle, in which the vehicle owner is fined - reported by either responsible officer or third party, sometimes online.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ehp.qld.gov.au/waste/littering.html|title=Littering|access-date=2015-09-03|archive-date=2015-09-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150922045142/http://www.ehp.qld.gov.au/waste/littering.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.epa.vic.gov.au/litter/if_you_have_been_reported.asp |title=If you've been reported - EPA Victoria |publisher=Epa.vic.gov.au |access-date=2012-02-21 |archive-date=2012-03-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120317114509/http://www.epa.vic.gov.au/litter/if_you_have_been_reported.asp |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Specific legislation exists in the following countries:
*United States - punishable by a minimum fine of $200 and a maximum fine of $1,000 or even more in some states for a first offence, community service, or both, as set out by state statutes and city ordinances. All 50 states have anti-litter laws, with various fines, community service, and/or imprisonment as possible punishment.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ncsl.org/issues-research/env-res/states-with-littering-penalties.aspx|title=States with Littering Penalties|first=National Conference of State|last=Legislatures|access-date=2012-07-22|archive-date=2013-05-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130517110059/http://www.ncsl.org/issues-research/env-res/states-with-littering-penalties.aspx|url-status=dead}}</ref>
*United Kingdom - Leaving litter is an offence under the [[Environmental Protection Act 1990]]. This was extended by the [[Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005]] under section 18. It carries a maximum penalty of £2500 upon conviction. However, many local authorities issue fixed penalty notices under section 88 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. Often incorrectly known as "on the spot fines", they do not have to be issued on the spot. Nor are they a fine.{{citation needed|date=January 2016}} If an alleged offender does not want to pay a fixed penalty notice, they can have the case heard in the [[Magistrates' court (England and Wales)|Magistrates Court]].
*Australia - no national legislation, although state based environmental protection authorities have laws and fines to discourage littering.
*The Netherlands - Dutch police and local supervisors (known as ''buitengewoon opsporingsambtenaar'', or BOA) fine citizens for throwing away cans, bottles or wrappers on the street.
*Switzerland - dumping refuse and household waste inappropriately or illegally incurs a heavy fine.