80% of residents would hold on to their litter

NEW figures show 80% of residents surveyed in Carmarthenshire would hold on to their litter until they found a bin.

Some 71% of residents said they would take their litter home and only one per cent said they would leave their rubbish behind.

The figures were revealed in a Citizens Panel survey carried out by the council, the police and the health board.

A total of 624 surveys were distributed to members with 406 returned giving an overall response rate of 65%.

Respondents were asked if they aware of various environmental campaigns including ‘Scoop the Poop’, ‘Grab it, Bag it, Bin it’, ‘Bin your Gum’, ‘Clean up Carmarthenshire’ and ‘You bring it, we’ll recycle it’.

A total of 72% of residents asked were fairly or very concerned about litter in their area; with 81% most concerned about food packaging litter, 65% concerned about dog fouling, 44% cigarette ends and 41% fly-tipping.

Some 85% of respondents believed that the most effective way to reduce / control litter was by enforcement (fines / prosecution), 58% felt education / awareness campaigns would be most beneficial, while 26% suggested volunteer clean-ups.

Executive Board Member for Environmental and Public Protection Cllr Jim Jones said: “These surveys are very important s as they demonstrate how effective our campaigns are and what specifically we need to target in future.

“It was very pleasing to see that 80% of respondents would hold on to their litter until they found a bin and shows our messages are getting across.

“Litter and dog fouling are a priority and we will continue to prosecute those that break the law as well as raise awareness through various targeted campaigns.”