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£10million Bill For Litter Clearance On Britain's Motorways
| Published: 22nd February 2013 17:35 |
£10million Bill For Litter Clearance On Britain's Motorways
The Agency's Bag it Bin it! campaign asks motorists to carry a bag in the car to collect and safely dispose of their rubbish. This is being supported by messages on electronic message boards across the North West saying: Don't drop litter, bin it.
Since April 2011, the campaign has seen the amount of litter on the Agency's roads reduce by an estimated 25 per cent, but road workers still collect more than 180,000 sacks of rubbish every year. Safety for both road users and road workers is a top priority, and clearing litter from along the carriageway can put workers at risk.
Roads Minister Stephen Hammond said:
"No one likes to see litter on our roads. If people didn't drop it, it wouldn't have to be picked up. Which is why I'm reminding people to ‘Bag it.
Bin it!' - carry a bag in your car, use it to collect your rubbish and dispose of it responsibly."
Litter isn't just unsightly - it can cause accidents, block drains and present a danger to wildlife. The Agency estimates that it costs £10 million of taxpayers' money each year to collect litter from motorways. This money could be far better spent on priorities such as road maintenance and safety improvements.
The Agency works closely with Defra and Keep Britain Tidy to support the ‘Love Where You Live' campaign. Helen Bingham from Keep Britain Tidy said:
"Our roadsides should not be treated like one giant litter bin. If everyone did the right thing we would save millions of pounds every year and have a country that was clean and litter-free. We all have a role to play in keeping our highways clean and showing that we love where we live."
As part of the ‘Bag it. Bin it!' campaign, which will run during February, the Agency will use electronic roadside messages along with its website at www.highways.gov.uk/litter and Twitter channels to remind road users to take their litter with them and dispose of it safely.
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