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Clearing Bristol’s streets of casually-dropped rubbish costs the city a staggering £5m a year – and now Mayor George Ferguson wants people to show a “bit of respect” and bin their litter.
Standing in front of a large pile of rubbish swept from the streets in just one weekend, the mayor yesterday kicked off a campaign to highlight the cost to the city’s taxpayers of clearing up what others discard thoughtlessly.
The campaign, which includes messages on city centre bins and on social media channels, was launched as the mayor prepares his budget, including £90m of cuts to jobs and services.
Mr Ferguson said: “I want people to see the sheer scale of the problem that we face in keeping the streets of Bristol litter-free. The amount of waste that is thoughtlessly dropped is shocking, as this event will show.
“The £5m spent clearing up each year is equivalent to two-and-a-half million school meals, nearly half a million library books or 20,000 extra trees for the city.
“At a time when we are having to face the prospect of really major budget cuts this is a sharp wake-up call. Just taking that little bit of trouble to put your litter in the bin or take it home will not only save money, but make Bristol a much more appealing place to be in.”
Some 5,962 tonnes (497 tonnes a month) of waste was collected from the city centre by the council during 2012/13 – enough to fill more than 21 Airbus A380s superjumbo aircraft – despite the litter bins around the area.
Assistant mayor Cllr Gus Hoyt added: “Litter is a problem caused by just a few but it affects many more. Leading up to 2015 and beyond we really do need to tackle this persistent problem. It’s basically just about a bit of respect for those around us and the city itself.”
