Action Against Litter Newsletter – Issue 8
It has been another busy year in the campaign to keep our district clean. Here is a summary of some of the action against litter which has been taken by Thanet District Council’s Street Cleansing team this autumn:
| Items collected | Quantity |
| Household Waste | 308.58 tonnes |
| Sweepings | 93.64 tonnes |
| Leaves | 4 tonnes |
| Metal | 6.64 tonnes |
| Mattress | 13.1 tonnes |
| Street Recycling | 20.8 tonnes |
| Bulk-wooden furniture | 61.98 tonnes |
| Sofas containing Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) | 84.32 tonnes |
| Beach Rubbish | 19.16 tonnes |
| Street 1,100L wheelie bin rubbish | 635.42 tonnes |
| TVs | 66 |
| Washing machine tumble dryers | 18 |
| Tyres | 508 |
| Fridge/Freezers | 214 |
Leaf collection
This year Thanet District Council is continuing with seasonal leaf collecting. It was first trialled in 2023, when nine tonnes of leaves were sent for composting, instead of being disposed of as street litter.
The Street Cleansing team started collecting in November and in their first week, hand shovelled and recycled four tonnes of leaves. It is hoped that collecting fallen leaves across Thanet this year will yield at least the same volume as the previous year.The council has also introduced a community collection programme to encourage further collecting.
This trial will involve volunteer residents in Broadstairs receiving a dedicated wheeled bin that they can fill with leaves. A small number of volunteer participants will be invited to take part in dedicated leaf picks. When the bins are full, they will be emptied by Waste & Recycling teams. These bins will be returned to the council at the end of leaf fall season.
Depending on the success of the trial, resident leaf picking may be rolled out across the district in future years . Residents who are interested in taking part in general litter picks should get in touch with their local litter picking group.
