Agenda item

Littering of Cigarette Butts

Alderman Ian Luder asked a question of the Chairman of the Port Health and Environmental Services Committee concerning littering and whether there had been a noticeable decrease in the volume of cigarette butts discarded inappropriately on City streets since the increase in the penalty fine for such littering in April of 2019.

Responding, the Chairman advised that, whilst figures were kept on the total amount of waste cleared from City streets, the smoking-related litter stream was not separated out owing to the practicalities of doing so. However, independent Keep Britain Tidy (KBT) litter surveys were carried out which provided a specific cigarette butt count and could be used to give an indication as to whether the increase in the penalty fee in April had had an effect. A comparison of the survey results before and after the fee change suggested a significant decrease in the number of dropped butts; however, there was still much to be done.

The Chairman expressed his hope that further behavioural change initiatives, which were intended to raise awareness of the impact of littering as well as the potential fines, would increase the desired behavioural change amongst smokers and reduce littering. These initiatives would be combined with a refocussed effort from the relevant enforcement team, due to commence April 2020.