The huge price of litter in Harlow

Published by Elizabeth Pokorny for Kier Services in Communities

Harlow Council is launching a crackdown on litter bugs which are costing Harlow Council taxpayers hundreds of thousands of pounds a year.

Every year in Harlow, street cleaning services provider Kier Harlow picks up litter and rubbish that doesn’t make it into a bin, costing Harlow Council £800,000 a year. That’s money which could be used to provide other services in the town instead of clearing up discarded cigarette ends, fast food wrappers and other rubbish.

Today the crackdown was launched with the Council filling one of the town’s six outdoor paddling pools with two weeks’ worth of litter collected from Harlow’s streets and open spaces to emphasis the problem. The cost of picking up this litter over a fortnight would run and staff two of the town’s paddling pools.

As part of the crackdown the Council will be targeting litter hotspot areas across the town. Community Safety Officers will be stepping up patrols and issuing £80 fixed penalty notices and Kier Harlow’s Environment Response Team will clearing up litter quickly. Work is also planned to take place with schools, the college and local community groups to raise awareness of the impact of litter. Around 30 more litter bins will be placed in key areas adding to the town’s network of 450 litter bins.

The crackdown is supported by local residents’ associations as well as the Police, the Fire Service and the charity the RSPCA whose funding resources are also drained by the impact of people dropping litter.

Councillor Jon Clempner, Harlow Council’s Portfolio Holder for Environment, said: “If everyone would just put their litter in a bin, instead of mindlessly dropping it on the floor, we could save thousands of pounds a year – and that money could be used to fund vital services for the whole community.

“We work hard to keep the town clean picking up after others but this costs taxpayers a huge amount of money. If we didn’t pick up litter the town would be swimming it in and today just shows how much litter is dropped on our streets. The majority of residents are responsible with their litter, it is the minority who are not. There is no excuse to not use a litter bin or take your litter home and litterbugs need to be aware how much their actions cost them.”

Cllr Clempner, added: “Although today’s launch was just about litter, this is part of a wider campaign to keep Harlow clean and raise pride in our town.”