Litter and fly-tipping

As a local authority, land manager or housing association, you are relentlessly working to maintain clean, safe and welcoming public spaces. Yet, the persistent issues of litter, fly-tipping, dog fouling and chewing gum continue to drain your resources and undermine community pride.

Litter laying in road beside the pavement

We understand your frontline challenges 

We know these aren't isolated acts of carelessness; they are complex behavioural issues that require strategic, targeted intervention. We recognise the scale and multi-faceted nature of the challenge you face: 

  • The soaring cost of waste crime: Local authorities in England dealt with 1.15 million fly-tipping incidents in the most recent reported year (2023/24), representing a challenging 6% increase. Clearing this, alongside general street cleansing, costs the public purse hundreds of millions of pounds annually—money that could be better spent on vital community services.
  • The low-level problem: Dog fouling, discarded gum and small-scale littering erode the perception of safety and cleanliness, creating an environment where larger crimes like fly-tipping are more likely to occur (the 'broken windows' theory). The sheer volume of these smaller offences makes traditional enforcement alone unsustainable.
  • The enforcement gap: You are under pressure to enforce penalties, but successful prosecution is resource-intensive. Furthermore, enforcement addresses the symptom, not the cause. We understand the need for a balanced approach: robust enforcement backed by effective, preventative communication.

Your evidence-based toolkit for lasting change 

We offer a comprehensive suite of services, founded on behavioural science, to help you tackle environmental crime at its root. Our approach blends deep insight, targeted training and proven campaign materials to deliver measurable results. 

Research and surveying: understand your problem 

Effective strategy begins with robust data. As a Network member, you gain immediate access to our latest research. We also provide bespoke services to give you the clearest local picture: 

  • Original research and behavioural observation: We conduct local studies to understand the human attitudes and behaviours behind your specific litter, fly-tipping, and fouling issues.
  • Environmental quality surveying: Get a baseline and ongoing measure of your street cleanliness using industry-standard methodology to track your improvements accurately.

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Staff training: empowering your teams 

Give your staff the skills to move beyond reactive clean-up to proactive prevention with one of our training courses: 

  • Enforcement Academy: Our popular course provides your enforcement teams with the latest legal and practical best practice for gathering evidence and issuing Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) for environmental offences.
  • Environmental Quality Surveying: Train your teams to accurately and consistently measure local environmental quality (LEQ).
  • Community engagement: Equip your officers to communicate effectively, turning negative enforcement situations into positive educational opportunities.

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Behaviour change interventions and initiatives 

Access our suite of nationally recognised, evidence-based campaigns and interventions, designed to ‘nudge’ people towards positive behaviour: 

Access our suite of nationally recognised, evidence-based campaigns and interventions, designed to fundamentally ‘nudge’ people towards positive behaviour and deliver measurable results: 

  • Tackling Fly-Tipping (The Crime): Fight fly-tipping strategically using interventions like our CSI Tape & Social Stencils, which cut repeat incidents by up to 73% in pilot areas (e.g., Newham), transforming hotspots by visually highlighting the crime.
  • Tackling General Litter (The Nudge): Target various forms of littering—from careful littering to general disposal—with campaigns like ‘Bin It For Good’ (achieving an average litter reduction of 24% in pilots) and ‘It’s Still Littering’.
  • Tackling Dog Fouling (The Conscience): Use our high-impact social pressure campaigns like ‘We’re Watching You’ posters (achieving an average reduction in fouling of 46% in trial areas) and the humorous ‘No Such Thing as a Dog Poo Fairy’.
  • Tackling Chewing Gum: Access expertise and grant funding through the Chewing Gum Task Force to clean up historic staining and implement local behaviour change interventions to reduce future gum littering. 

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Successful partnerships 

Our strategic, evidence-led approach delivers real, measurable improvements for our partners: 

Better Streets fly-tipping project with Newham Borough Council 

We partnered with Newham, which faces some of the highest fly-tipping rates in London, to co-design and test a range of interventions. 

  • The Result: By combining behavioural interventions like CSI Tape and Social Impact Stencils with community engagement and policy changes, we achieved a reduction in fly-tipping of up to 73% in pilot areas, demonstrating the power of a targeted, insight-led approach. 

Keep Manchester Tidy 

This long-running, city-wide partnership with Manchester City Council was launched to create the UK's first designated 'Tidy City' by mobilising residents, businesses, and community groups. 

  • The Result: The initiative has created a wide network of community groups, delivered litter-picking hubs, and provided the city with a unified, collective vision for cleanliness, effectively embedding litter and fly-tipping prevention as a shared civic responsibility. 

Are you ready to move from costly clean-up to sustainable prevention? 

Contact us today to discuss how our research, training and proven campaigns can be tailored to meet your unique local challenges.

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