Litter project gets a ‘high five’ for cleaner city streets
A pilot project designed to encourage people to dispose of litter responsibility has been hailed a success by Birmingham City Council.
The Bin it for Good initiative, run for three months between September and November 2015, has led to a five per cent reduction in litter on streets in the main retail areas of the city centre.
Under the scheme, also supported by Keep Britain Tidy, Retail Birmingham Business Improvement District and The Wrigley Company, a number of bins in the city centre were designated with stickers - explaining if more waste was disposed in them, more cash would be raised on a “sliding scale” basis for Love Brum, a Birmingham-based charity supporting a number of local good causes.
During the three-month trial, the percentage of litter waste picked up within the Retail Birmingham Business Improvement District (BID) decreased as a percentage of overall waste fell from 10.05 per cent to 4.94 per cent. Therefore, the percentage placed responsibly in bins rose from 89.95 per cent to 95.06 per cent.
This meant that Love Brum received £1,350 for good causes, under the terms of the initiative, as agreed at its launch in the late summer.
Cllr Lisa Trickett, Cabinet Member for Sustainability, said: “Given we spend £13million annually on street cleaning, we are delighted with the results from this pilot project.
“It was a scheme that had been a success in other parts of the country, but you can never be sure if the findings will be achievable elsewhere until you try it yourself.
“Now we know the impact this project has had in the city centre, it is now for districts and wards across the city to now reflect on whether this is something that they feel has the ability to deliver on what is consistently raised as a top priority by residents – cleaner streets in their neighbourhoods.”
Tim Andrews, Chairman of LoveBrum, said: “We were delighted to partner and support this great initiative. LoveBrum is a ‘movement’ for a better Birmingham, it unearths and funds hard to reach, hidden gem charities and organisations, which are helping to make Birmingham a better place to live and work, so our objectives are perfectly aligned. It’s great to think LoveBrum helped to reduce the litter in our city centre.”
Steve Hewlett, BID manager at Retail Birmingham, added: “The Bin it for Good campaign has been very positive. We have seen people using the bins more often, helping to keep the city centre shopping streets clean whilst raising money for a great charity.”
ENDS
Media contact: Emma Brady, Press and PR Officer, on 0121 303 6969 or email emma.brady@birmingham.gov.uk
Notes to editors
For more information about the Love Brum charity, please visit: http://lovebrum.org.uk/about-us/
The locations of the 48 bins involved in the scheme were:
1 – Victoria Square
2 – Victoria Square
3 – Victoria Square
4 – Victoria Square
5 – Halifax Building Society, New Street
6 – Santander Building Society, New Street
7 – Yorkshire Building Society, New Street
8 – Betfred, New Street
9 – Chelsea Building Society, New Street
10 – Wagamama, Ethel Street
11 – Subway, Ethel Street
12 – Shakespeare Pub, Lower Temple Street
13 – Tesco, New Street
14 – Gordon Scott, New Street
15 – Muji, New Street
16 – Lloyds Bank, New Street
17 – HSBC, New Street
18 – O2, New Street
19 – Nat West Bank, New Street
20 – Primark, New Street
21 – Select, New Street
22 – RBS, New Street
23 – Adidas, New Street
24 – Pavilions, High Street
25 – Carphone Warehouse, High Street
26 – Three, High Street
27 – Optical Express, High Street
28 – Opus, High Street
29 – Burger King, High Street
30 – Blacks, Union Street
31 – BHS, Union Street
32 – BHS, Union Street
33 – City Centre House, Union Street
34 – Poundland, Union Street
35 – Poundland, Corporation Street
36 – Opposite House of Fraser, Corporation Street
37 – Poundland, Corporation Street
38 – J D Wetherspoon, Corporation Street
39 – J D Wetherspoon, Corporation Street
40 – Big John’s, Corporation Street
41 – J D Wetherspoon, Corporation Street
42 – HRS store, Bull Street
43 – Allied Irish, Needless Alley
44 – Virgin Store, Temple Street
45 – Serenity, Temple Street
46 – Evans Cycles, Temple Street
47 – Tesco, Carrs Lane
48 – Opposite Marks & Spencer, Carrs Lane
