Litter & Street Cleaning

Redditch Borough Council is responsible for cleansing public land and endeavours to maintain a clean and safe environment for all who live and work within it. On this webpage you can find out more information on:

• Street sweeping
• How to report Fly-tipping, flyposting, litter and dog fouling 
• Abandoned Vehicles 
• Hazardous waste

Street Sweeping

Hazardous Litter/fly-tipping

Redditch Borough Council will respond to hazardous requests as a matter of urgency.  The following items are examples of what would be considered hazardous litter –

• Broken glass
• Surgical sharps
• Bodily fluids
• Dog waste outside schools or on hard surface play areas

If you would like to report any items you consider to be hazardous, please telephone 01527 534123 or (out of hours) 01527 67666

How you can help?

Voluntary Litter Warden scheme and community clean ups

The Council runs a voluntary litter warden scheme where local residents can litter pick an area by putting in as much or as little time as they wish.  The Council will supply black bags, litter picking sticks, gloves and a list of Do’s and Don’ts.  Ideally, any full bags should be placed in your wheeled bin for collection with your normal refuse.  However, if you have too many bags, you can ring the council to make arrangements for the collection of the bags.  Please remember that if you discover flytipped waste, please do not touch the waste: flytipped waste can be dangerous - it may contain syringes, broken glass, asbestos, toxic chemicals or other hazardous substances.

If you would like to become a Voluntary Litter Warden please telephone the council on 01527 534123.

Organising a litter pick

If you would like to arrange a litter pick/clean up of your local area the Council will be happy to help by providing you with the equipment you need, health and safety advice and someone to help on the day and take the rubbish away.  Please contact us on 01527 534123 and we will make the appropriate arrangements.

Reporting problems to us

Please tell us as soon as you can if you are concerned about street cleansing, if there is a regular area which is untidy or fly-tipped on.  You can help us to tackle these areas and make the Borough cleaner.  Please telephone 01527 534123.

How the Council uses enforcement action

The Council employs two enforcement officers who deal with fly-tipping, litter and dog fouling both on public and private land.

Monitoring and enquiries frequently need to take place outside of normal office hours.

The Council also collects any abandoned supermarket trolleys left lying around the street and then wherever possible makes arrangements to return the trolleys to the supermarkets.  

If you see someone flytipping, dropping litter of letting their dog foul If possible,

please make a note of:

• the day, date and time you saw the offence.
• What you saw:
• how many people were involved and what they looked like
• what they were actually doing
• any vehicles involved - their make, colour and registration number
• Where were you when you saw the offence:
• what kind of view you had
• how far away you were
• weather and light conditions
• What was the offence:
• how much?
• what it looked like
• Remember - Don't Put Yourself At Risk!

If you would like to report any issues relating to enforcement, please telephone 01527 534123 during normal office hours of 9.00 a.m. – 5.30 p.m. Monday – Thursday and 9.00 a.m. – 5.00 p.m. Friday.

Tackling fly-tipping

In an effort to reduce the number of flytipping incidences, the Council provides a special collection service for large items.  Further details or to book a special collection please call our worcestershire hub on 01527 534123.  

The flytipping of controlled waste is a serious criminal offence which carries a fine of up to £20,000 (unlimited if indicted to the Crown Court) or an offender can even be sent to prison. It is important to realise that it is also an offence to permit flytipping.

Flytipping is often associated with dumping waste from vehicles. In this case the person controlling the use of the vehicle can also be prosecuted, which means that it is possible for a prosecution to occur when only the vehicle, not the driver, is identifiable.

The Police also have the powers to seize vehicles used for flytipping.

If you discover flytipped waste after the tippers have left, please follow these simple Do's and Dont's:

• Do not touch the waste: flytipped waste can be dangerous - it may contain syringes, broken glass, asbestos, toxic chemicals or other hazardous substances.
• Visually inspect the waste: try to determine what the waste consists of and how much there is.
• Take note of its exact location: and also, whether it is in or near water.
• Do not disturb the site: there may be evidence that could help identify the culprits and lead to their prosecution.
• Householders have a duty of care to ensure that their waste is passed to a registered waste carrier.  
• The environment agency have set up a facility whereby businesses and residents can enquire on the Waste Carriers and Brokers public register at http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/research/library/publicregisters/default.aspx.

You can contact us on the following numbers:

General cleansing enquiries during normal office hours 01527 534123

Emergencies out of office hours 01527 67666

Litter and Dog Bins

Provision and maintenance of litter and dog fouling bins

Litter/dog bins are essential in providing disposal facilities for the public, especially in well used areas where food and drink are often consumed. Provision of well maintained litter and dog fouling bins plays an important part in improving the cleanliness of the Borough.

The Council is responsible for large numbers of bins which are provided in busy areas like parks, play areas and at bus stops. Wherever possible we try and ensure that litter and dog fouling bins are provided in the most suitable location, taking into account local factors such as how well used an area is and considering routes along footpaths where litter is most likely to be dropped.

Requests for new bins

If a request is made for a litter or dog fouling bin, we will respond within ten working days and let you know if it is going to be possible to provide a bin. Unfortunately we cannot always provide a bin and sometimes bins in certain locations are repeatedly vandalised and have to be completely removed.

What about full bins?

We empty litter and dog fouling bins regularly through our planned cleansing work and if we receive reports of full bins.  How often we cleanse an area and empty the bins depends on a number of things like how busy it is and whether it is a focal point or near a school. For example, the bins in district centres like Church Hill and Headless Cross are emptied twice per day and the bins in most residential areas are emptied at the same time as the area is cleansed, every two weeks.  We know that bins in some locations get full more quickly and we will arrange to empty these more often.  

If we receive a report of a full litter or dog bin we will respond within one working day.

How are bins maintained?

Refurbishment, repair and cleaning of bins is carried out as needed on a responsive basis. If a bin is damaged, we will make the repair as quickly as possible but we may have to wait for replacement parts – we will aim to repair the bin within ten working days.  If a bin is unsafe we will inspect it and make it safe within the same working day or sometimes remove the bin until a repair can be made.

Service Standards

We will

• Provide friendly and efficient staff
• Deliver an efficient and effective street cleansing service
• Work with the community to improve cleanliness of the Borough  
• Continuously clean the town centre 7 days per week between the hours of 7am and 5pm
• Mechanically sweep all roads within the Borough at least twice a year
• Respond to hazardous litter within one hour of it being reported
• Carry out scheduled sweeping, litter picking of all streets and other public land based on need.
• Remove fly-tipping within 48 hours* of it being reported
• Provide litter and dog bins wherever possible when requested
• Take enforcement action against those who drop litter, dump rubbish and allow their dogs to foul
• Provide an out of hours service for cleansing emergencies
• Organise litter picks with local schools and communities when requested
• Monitor and measure the amount of litter in the town and report what we find.