Litter picking in West Northamptonshire

Litter bins

We provide and maintain the litter bins in West Northamptonshire. We take into account the frequency of use and any previous complaints made about litter in the area before deciding on a location. We would prefer you take your litter home so it can be added to your household waste and recycling.

Education

We help to arrange assemblies, talks and visits on the topic of littering. Through the use of social media, signage and stickers, competitions and anti-littering campaigns, we hope to educate children and the public on how to dispose of waste responsibly.

Community

We are happy to provide litter picking equipment that can be borrowed for a community litter picking event. We will even collect and deal with the sacks you have filled ourselves.

To borrow equipment for your event, please contact one of the following, depending on your location:

• Daventry and South Northamptonshire email: [email protected]
• Northampton email: [email protected]

To arrange collection of the sacks you have collected, please use the Report it Form.

Enforcement

Enforcement is carried out in line with our published enforcement policy and is a graduated approach. 

Where evidence exists, we will not hesitate to take action against those that are caught littering. This could be by way of a fixed penalty notice, which can be up to £500. 

CCTV is used in various locations to assist with the gathering of evidence for fly-tipping and littering offences.

You can view fees and charges for 2024-25.

Being thoughtful of how you dispose of your own litter is the most important way you can impact littering within your community however, there are many other ways you could get involved.

Report it

You can use our WNC App to report any litter you spot or you can report an issue online. The app allows you to quickly and easily let us know where there is an issue straight from your phone. We can use this information to determine whether a litter bin would be useful in that area and to assist in prosecutions.

If you witness litter being thrown from a car and can make note of the make or registration we are more able to apply fines.

Community litter picks

You can organise a community litter picking event which we can help support. 

You can also get involved in our Community Spring Clean events.

Charity organisations

There are many organised and motivated charities in West Northamptonshire that tackle litter.

Growing Together Northampton have a range of community activities and local litter picks for you to join. Some run all year round and are a great opportunity to meet likeminded people in your area.

Become a Street Champion

A Street Champion is an individual who picks up litter and brings it back to their own waste and recycling bins. Anyone can be a Street Champion for their local area.

National campaigns

This Spring, there are multiple groups working on The Big Clean Up and the Great British Spring Clean. You can pledge to clean up a bag of litter, donate funds and inspire others to get involved.