Litter and Refuse Zoning and Response Times

Streetscene follow the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) Code of Practice on Litter and Refuse. This sets out the standards of cleanliness expected and how quickly streets should be returned to a clean state if they are littered. These guidelines form the basis of our scheduled cleansing regime (mechanical sweeping and litter-picking);

We also operate on a reactive basis and hope to clear up litter problems as soon as we possibly can. Likewise, we do not clean streets if they are already at an acceptable level of cleanliness just because they are on a schedule.

EDDC clean all public highways in East Devon, also parks, gardens, and other land that we own. Other bodies such as Devon County Council, Environment Agency, schools and transport companies are also required to adhere to the code of practice and maintain their land to a grade B or above.

All local authorities are required to grade the cleanliness of the streets in their district using a National Indicator. This is undertaken on a quarterly basis and involves grading hundreds of different streets in the area to give us an accurate indication of how clean we are keeping them.

There are 4 different grades of cleanliness:

Grade A: no litter or refuse present

Grade B: predominantly free of litter and refuse except for some small items

Grade C: widespread distribution of litter and refuse, with minor accumulations

Grade D: heavily littered, with significant accumulations

If streets are given a grade C or D then they are not being maintained to an acceptable standard. Our aim is for all streets in our district to be maintained to a grade B or above..

Defra’s Code of Practice sets out expected response times for returning littered streets to a clean state. These response times vary depending on the type of land use and the practical difficulties involved in cleaning the land.

The response times that Streetscene work to if cleanliness falls below a grade B are as follows:

Zone 1 (Primary retail areas such as the Magnolia Centre - Exmouth, High Street – Honiton and seafront esplanades)

  • Returned to grade A or B within half a day (this means by 6pm if reported before 1pm or by 1pm the next day if reported between 1pm and 6pm the previous day).

Zone 2 (Secondary retail areas, car parks, high density housing, parks and gardens)

  • Return to grade A or B within a day (this means by 6pm the following day).  

Zone 3 (Low density housing, recreational land, rural roads)

  • Returned to grade A or B within 14 days.

Zone 4 (Carriageways, verges and central reservations of major roads)

  • Returned to grade A or B within 28 days or as soon as practicable.

Please remember that we can only respond to litter problems if we are made aware of them – to report a problem please call our Customer Services Center on 01395 517528.

Page last updated on 23 February 2010