Bournemouth littering crisis: The facts beneath the scraps

Littering in Bournemouth is not only creating unappealing scenery but is also a threat to the local wildlife.

Despite claims of schemes to tackle the issue, Bournemouth residents criticise  Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council (BCP council) for the littering issues.

Reports show the council clean the streets weekly, the same day each week, despite fluctuations in the amount of rubbish.

Some members of the public argue cleans should be based on need and not a schedule, considering weather and tourist conditions.

Bournemouth resident, Shaun, said: “The council are not doing nearly enough and there should be more consideration for impacts on the environment.”

Statistics showed zero fines had been issued by the BCP council from June 2021 to June 2022, despite headlines of mass littering following the hottest day of the year on the 19th of July 2021.

Shaun said: “That proves they are being way too lenient,” in response to the statistics.

Environmental effects

Littering on the beach is also leading to negative consequences for the environment.

A beach clean in January 2021 showed an average of 1129.8 litter items found per 100m.

Items such as plastic bags that take up to 20 years to disintegrate cause long lasting threats to the local wildlife.

Scientists have found that plastic kills around one million sea birds each year and 100,000 fish and sea mammals.

Local employee at the charity shop worker in Bournemouth, Phil, said: “Bournemouth is known for its beach, it’s a shame we don’t look after it and its local wildlife.”

Future initiatives

The council has been working through a ‘greener, cleaner, safer’ initiative that aims to clean the areas, increase green spaces, and prevent fly tipping.

A total of £453,000 is set to be invested to target street cleansing.

This includes the deployment of additional street cleaning teams and will cover the replacement of bins.

New disco bins, glow bins and voting bins have been introduced.

This aims to appeal to the public in a hope to decrease the amount of people littering.