Keeping the region clear of litter and fly-tipping costs over £5 million pounds annually, when we could all play a part to reduce the amount of litter and fly-tipping cluttering our place from the outset.

The ‘It’s your place’ campaign will tackle issues including litter, dog fouling, fly tipping and grafitti that impact on communities – www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/its-your-place

“We’re all proud of where we live and we want to make sure North Lanarkshire is a clean, safe and friendly place to live and work,” said Councillor Helen Loughran, Convener of the Environment and Climate Change Committee.

“If everyone puts their litter in a bin, cleans up after their dog and disposes of household waste correctly, it will make such a difference. These are small actions but helping to keep our communities clean means they will be happier places to live as a result.

“There’s no excuse for litter and fly tipping but sadly we collect over 4,000 tonnes of litter each year and incidents of fly tipping are increasing. The cost to clean up is a waste of money that would be much better spent on other important local services.

“It’s your place, so let’s work together to help keep our towns and villages clean and safe for everyone to enjoy.”

Council staff work 24/7 to keep communities clean. Over the past year, we have:

• issued 95 Fixed Penalty Notices for fly tipping and increased the number of CCTV cameras available to identify those responsible (Fixed Penalty Notices for fly tipping are currently £200, but will increase to £500 from 1 January 2024)
• installed larger litter bins across communities to increase capacity
• carried out chewing gum cleaning from pavements in Airdrie and Bellshill town centres
• issued over £150,000 in grants to community groups for litter picking and environmental improvement projects
• removed hundreds of illegal signs and banners from fences and street lighting which can cause road accidents
• Issued 585 Fixed Penalty Notices to people caught dropping litter
• assisted communities by collecting and disposing of black bags and debris after community clean ups
• supported Keep Scotland Beautiful’s Spring Clean campaign, with 100 litter picks carried out by local groups, and 22 community clean up hubs now operating across North Lanarkshire.

Work is ongoing to prune shrubs in communities, cut grass on road verges and carry out maintenance on roundabouts during the winter.

The 22 clean up hubs in place across North Lanarkshire run in partnership with Keep Scotland Beautiful (KSB) to provide litter picking equipment for anyone who wants to organise a litter pick. This includes bags, high-vis jackets, litter sticks, kit for children, posters and promotional materials. Details are on KSB’s web site at Clean Up Scotland Map (keepscotlandbeautiful.org) and information on setting up a hub is at www.keepscotlandbeautiful.org/community-and-place/clean-up-scotland/do-your-bit-to-clean-up-scotland/

Residents are encouraged to report any problems in their communities to us at www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/your-community/report-issue