Litter in the United Kingdom.

Year after year, billions of pounds are spent on clearing up litter from the streets that people have just thrown  on to the streets and other public places. This amount of money could be used to afford many other important services that people may need however, the people of the UK seem less disciplined and do not care about the effects of waste and litter. 

Every year 1.9 billion tons of litter ends up in the ocean. Can you possibly imagine how much this effects the marine life? Many people wonder as to why there are so many reports about fish kills every day but they may want to take a step back and acknowledge as to how they are contributing to it. Many animals in the ocean are losing their habitat due to the billions of litter we produce. 

Additionally, it is stated in many surveys that 50% of the waste and littered items are cigarette butts. This type of waste is a serious threat to the environment because of the cellulose acetate that cigarette butts are made of, could take 10 years to disintegrate. 

Many people have started educational campaigns and clean-up activities in their communities yet 75% of these people claim to have littered themselves within the past 5 years. 

According to a national study, the majority of people who would delibrately litter are those between the ages of 18 and 34. 




I have acknowledged that most of the waste and litter seen on the streets and streams of many cities in the United Kingdom come from the households of civilians; this is shown in this Pie Chart.