Dropped litter can last a very long time. For example, a plastic bottle can last indefinitely, aluminium cans 80 to 100 years, plastic bags will last 10 to 20 years, even biodegradable items such as orange peel, apple cores, banana skins and cigarette butts can last up to two years.
The council has to comply with cleanliness standards as set out in the Code of Practice on Litter and Refuse. Cleanliness grades (A to D) set out how clean an area should be and cleanliness standards dictate response time for cleaning up an area.
During peak periods and special events, where possible we provide additional services to meet demand, such as Christmas markets, seasonal events.
The table below shows response times for bringing different areas back to an acceptable standard of cleanliness:
| How much litter is there? |
When located in town centres |
In high density residential areas and busy parks |
In low density residential areas and other parks |
| Quite a lot of litter with small build ups (Grade C) |
3 hours |
6 hours |
12 hours |
| A lot of litter with significant build ups (Grade D) |
1 hour |
3 hours |
6 hours |
Meeting our standards
Service requests
We aim to deal with 85% of requests for service within target.
- 2016/17 of 7,072 requests - 84% were completed on target
- 2017/18 of 5,821 requests - 79% were completed on target
- 2018/19 of 6,335 requests received 78% have been completed within target
- 2019/20 of 6,144 requests received (grounds maintenance and street cleaning only – 100% acknowledged within target), 97% completed within target
- 2020/21 of 12,265 requests received (grounds maintenance and street cleaning only – 100% acknowledged within target), 99% completed within target
- 2021/22 of 12,848 requests received (grounds maintenance and street cleaning only – 100% acknowledged within target), 94% completed within target
- 2022/23 of 12,237 requests received (grounds maintenance and street cleaning only – 100% acknowledged within target), 93% completed within target
- 2023/24 of 13,436 requests received (grounds maintenance and street cleaning only – 100% acknowledged within target), 91% completed within target
- 2024/25 of 15,082 requests received (grounds maintenance and street cleaning only – 100% acknowledged within target), 85.4% completed within target
Compliments (combined street cleaning, grounds maintenance and parks)
- 2016/17 number of compliments recorded - 24
- 2017/18 number of compliments recorded - 33
- 2018/19 number of compliments recorded – 74
- 2019/20 number of compliments recorded – 49
- 2020/21 number of compliments recorded – 59
- 2021/22 number of compliments recorded – 43
- 2022/23 number of compliments recorded – 44
- 2023/24 number of compliments recorded – 70
- 2024/25 number of compliments recorded – 54
How can I help?
- Please place your litter in one of the many litter bins located throughout the city
- Please take your litter home and put it with your household waste if there is not a convenient litter bin nearby
- Please clean up after your dog
- Please do not put your household or trade waste in street litter bins
- Please use the special facilities provided at the city's rubbish tips for scrap or dangerous waste such as used oil to prevent harm to the environment and others
- Please do not feed pigeons
- Fly tipping - dumping waste anywhere - is illegal. You can dispose of your refuse by using the refuse collection service or by taking it to any of the city's four household waste recycling centres
Report areas that are badly littered
This page was last updated on 15 April 2025