South Gloucestershire Council and Avon and Somerset Police have been working together to tackle roadside waste by carrying out stop checks on commercial vehicles travelling along the A4174 ring road.
A range of vans and tipper vans carrying poorly secured loads were stopped and inspected by the council’s environmental crime team and police officers on Monday 16 and Friday 20 May. Whilst the vehicles were being checked, the council’s environmental enforcement and waste management teams advised the drivers of the consequences of travelling with unsecured items.
In total 26 vehicles were stopped over the two days and council officers additionally visited 11 waste sites in the area. Those spoken to were all issued with an information leaflet and shown a short video highlighting the problems caused by waste and litter escaping from vehicles and what they could do to prevent it.
Seven drivers were given warnings and 15 were given advice about how to improve the security of the loads on their vehicles.
Councillor Rachael Hunt, cabinet member responsible for waste and recycling, said: “Every year the council spends over £100,000 clearing waste from roadsides. This work also causes major disruption for everyone using the road, particularly the A4174 ring road, which takes between three to six weeks to clear.
“For this initiative, we’ve taken a positive, proactive approach to educate and inform drivers of vehicles with insecure loads of their legal responsibilities which we hope will help reduce waste and litter on the roadsides and the disruption caused by the clean-up. The response from the people stopped has been really encouraging, with many of them taking action to improve the way they transport goods.”
Everyone can play a role in reducing the disruption caused by rubbish clearances from our roads. Always dispose of waste from your home in a bin or at the Sort It recycling centres, put litter in a street bin or your bin at home. When travelling to the recycling centre, be sure to secure your vehicle to prevent items or rubbish escaping during your journey.
For information on South Gloucestershire’s Sort It recycling centres visit www.southglos.gov.uk/sortitcentres
To report litter issues including unsecured loads visit www.southglos.gov.uk/report
A video about the initiative is available here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4afkTU1x6c
