Council's High School Litter Initiative launched

A new Take Pride in Your City project is harnessing partnership working to tackle litter and raise recycling awareness at the city’s secondary schools.

The beginning of the collaboration, between the Council’s Neighbourhood Services and Children & Families Services, has been marked with a litter pick led by St. Paul’s RC Academy staff and pupils.

The Council’s Environment team are working with a pilot group of secondary schools, including St. Paul’s RC Academy and St. John’s RC High School, by providing litter picking equipment, reviewing bin provision and ongoing advice.

These actions are supporting school communities to lead their own events and activities which focus on litter and recycling while building on the work already being done by schools.

Climate, Environment & Biodiversity Depute Convener Cllr Nadia El-Nakla said: “The Take Pride in Your City campaign is a call to take action on environmental issues that afflict our neighbourhoods, such as litter.  

“The introduction of the High School Litter Initiative is yet another method being rolled out to tackle littering, and to foster the responsibility of keeping our streets & green spaces clean.

“Considerable council resources go into regularly removing litter from our shared spaces. Litter is both unpleasant and negatively impacts our local environment. It also presents a missed opportunity for items to be recycled.”

Children, Families & Communities Convener Cllr Stewart Hunter said: “A collaborative approach is vital in realising the positive effects we all want to see. Through litter prevention education, we can reach young people about the issues of littering at primary school level and continue as children transition into young adulthood.

“I look forward to seeing this piloted in the city’s secondary schools bringing the equipment and advice to staff and pupils who are eager to get involved.”

Disposing of items in any public open space is classed as littering and is a criminal offence.

Offenders can be issued with a fixed penalty notice of £80 or potentially prosecuted, risking a fine of up to £2,500.

More information about the Take Pride in Your City campaign is available on the Dundee City Council website.