ECJ EUROPEAN Cleaning Journal

Residents of Sheffield are being offered litter-picking equipment to help them keep their city's streets clean.

Anyone keen to join the scheme is provided with a litter-picker, plastic bags and disposable gloves and is invited to pick up litter from pavements, verges and public land.

Volunteers are asked to secure the rubbish in bags, but no sorting is required because professional contractors carry this out later. And members of the public are urged to avoid picking up hazardous items such as hypodermic needles, drugs waste, asbestos or broken glass which should be reported to the council.

The project is being spearheaded by Sheffield Council's contractor Streets Ahead in co-ordination with the Sheffield Litter Pickers. This is a volunteer collective of 3,500 members that has formed its own Facebook group.

Sheffield residents are demonstrating a particular desire to clean up their streets with a reported 230 per cent increase in requests for litter-picking equipment received by the council over the past year.

Voluntary street cleaners recently carried out a two-week deep clean of Page Hall, a challenging area of the city with a reputation for gangs and anti-social behaviour. And a community litter-pick involving local children has also taken place in recent weeks.

Meanwhile, workshops are being held in Sheffield's schools as part of the city's Streets Ahead programme. The sessions look at the impact of litter on the environment and wildlife and pupils are invited to help with surveys, enter litter art competitions and take part in litter-picks with mascot Phil the Bin while on their walk to school.