Reducing Litter Beside East Suffolk’s Busy Roads

As part of an ongoing programme of work to reduce roadside litter and improve the appearance of the district for residents and visitors.

East Suffolk Services Limited, who will carry out litter picking on the Council’s behalf, is currently reviewing safety procedures for working beside major roads, including the A47, A12 and A146 to ensure future litter picking and other maintenance can be carried out as safely as possible. The roads themselves are managed by National Highways and Suffolk Highways (part of Suffolk County Council) respectively however East Suffolk Council is responsible for litter clearance beside these roads.

Once the safety review is complete, it is expected that the Council will permanently adopt twice-yearly litter picks beside these main roads, as well as a regular schedule of litter picking and emptying of bins within laybys. This new approach will maintain a litter free network of laybys and help reduce the risk of littering in future.

Cllr Sally Noble, East Suffolk’s cabinet member for the Environment said: “We have listened to public concerns regarding the appalling amount of litter beside major roads in the district and agree that this looks unsightly and is also detrimental to the local environment. We are working with East Suffolk Services Ltd to introduce a regular programme of clearance and maintenance to ensure litter in these areas is removed and the risk of future littering reduced. Working beside these major routes is extremely dangerous and the safety of the staff undertaking this work is paramount, therefore it is essential for East Suffolk Services Ltd to have correct safety procedures in place before this work can begin. 

“Litter picking on this scale is expensive, with the one-off clearance being carried out by our contractors in late April costing at least £28,000. These costs are ultimately borne by the taxpayer and most of this rubbish is deliberately thrown from vehicles using these roads. The easiest way to reduce the need for costly litter picking and associated road closures is for people to dispose of their litter properly when travelling on the roads, by using one of the many layby litter bins or by taking it home with you. East Suffolk’s amazing and we can all play our part to maintain the beauty of the district for the benefit of all those who live, work and visit here.”

Chris Dowsing, Operations Director at ESSL said: “We are committed to providing high quality services to the residents and businesses of East Suffolk, one of which is keeping highways as free from litter and debris as possible. This is in keeping with previous arrangements, working alongside the Highways Agency, to maintain a good standard of cleanliness along our county’s main roads. We have to balance this commitment with the resources we have at our disposal and the advice from our Health and Safety colleagues so the approach we have agreed to take with support from East Suffolk Council, is one which is based on assessed risk to our workforce and the resources available to us in terms of budget.

“We are diligently working towards having the right systems and schedule in place to keep our colleagues safe and to make an impact on the levels of litter present on our roadsides but nothing we can do would be a better preventative measure than the litter not being dropped in the first place which, ultimately, the taxpayer is left to cover in terms of cleanup.”

To report concerns about roadside litter, or any matters relating to refuse and cleansing services in your area, please contact East Suffolk Council’s Customer Services team on 0333 016 2000 or customerservices@eastsuffolk.gov.uk.