Philly Spends $48M Annually to Clean Up Litter

According to a new statewide study, the city of Philadelphia spends 48 million annually to clean up litter. Nearly 90 percent of the city’s total costs go toward cleanup; the remaining 10 percent goes toward prevention and outreach, according to a report by The Philadelphia Inquirer.

In an effort to reduce litter, the city has created a Zero Waste and Litter Cabinet, established a litter index, maintained six sanitation convenience centers, used volunteers to manage a three-bin collection system, installed solar power trash receptacles downtown, managed a pilot street sweeping program that will soon become a citywide program, established crews to cleanup illegal dump sites and more.

The Philadelphia Inquirer has more information:

Philadelphia spends $48 million a year to deal with trash-strewn streets and neighborhoods — eight times more than the next-highest Pennsylvania city, Pittsburgh, which spends $6 million, according to a new statewide study.

Nearly 90% of Philadelphia’s total costs go toward cleanup, with the rest toward prevention and outreach.

Philadelphia officials note that Pittsburgh and the seven other municipalities surveyed for the litter study are much smaller — both in population and land size. But Philadelphia, at $30 per person, spends more even proportionately to Pittsburgh, at $20.

Nic Esposito, director of the city’s Zero Waste and Litter Cabinet, pointed out that other Pennsylvania cities in the study spend more per capita on litter, so in that sense, Philly is actually closer to the middle. For example, Allentown spends almost $38.

Read the full story here.