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Levels of litter - Improved street and environmental cleanliness (135) Metric type

URI
http://id.esd.org.uk/metricType/135
Help text
This metric is the percentage of relevant land and highways that is assessed as having deposits of litter that fall below an acceptable level.

There is no statutory definition of litter. The Environmental Protection Act 1990 (s.87) states that litter is 'anything that is dropped, thrown, left or deposited that causes defacement, in a public place'. This accords with the popular interpretation that 'litter is waste in the wrong place'.

Litter includes mainly synthetic materials, often associated with smoking, eating and drinking, that are improperly discarded and left by members of the public? or are spilt during waste management operations.

This was previously reported as NI 195a and forms one component of a wider set of indicators looking at the percentage of relevant land and highways that is assessed as having deposits of litter, detritus, graffiti and fly-posting that fall below an acceptable standard of cleanliness. It is calculated as:

((T + (Tb/2))/Ts)*100 where

  • T = number of sites graded C, C- or D for each individual element
  • Tb = number of sites graded at B- for each individual element
  • Ts = total number of sites surveyed for each element.
Grades are:

  • A = no litter/detritus/graffiti/fly posting
  • B = where a transect is predominately free of litter/detritus/graffiti/fly posting except for some small items
  • C = where there is widespread distribution of litter/detritus/graffiti/fly posting with minor accumulations
  • D = where a transect is heavily littered/covered in detritus with significant accumulations or there is extensive graffiti/fly posting likely to be clearly visible and obtrusive to people passing through.
This data has been provided as part of the voluntary LG Inform benchmarking club therefore not all authorities submitted data and comparisons with other authorities should be made with caution.
Modified
16 Dec 2020
Data last updated
01 Jan 2022
Also known as
  • Percentage of relevant land and highways assessed as having unacceptable levels of litter
  • NI 195a Improved street and environmental cleanliness (levels of litter, detritus, graffiti and fly posting) - Litter
Short label
Litter
Status
Live
Output precision
0
Polarity
a low value is good
Measure
Percentage of land
Dataset
Improved street and environmental cleanliness
Collection
LGI Benchmarking Club
Source
Local Government Association
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