Litter picking

Information about how to organise a litter pick including borrowing equipment, plus a list of local groups organising regular community litter picks.

The Suffolk Waste Partnership is keen to support local community efforts to clean up towns, villages and our countryside, to keep Suffolk beautiful.

Several groups across Suffolk have given their neighbourhoods a spruce-up, making a real difference.

Litter picking:

improves the look of an area
is a great way to get out and about and meet like-minded members of your local community
improves habitats and removes potential hazards for wildlife
makes our county somewhere visitors will want to return to.

Our waste collection authorities will support your efforts to carry out local litter picks all year round.

If your group is organising a litter pick in Suffolk and would like help, please call your local waste collection authority with details of your event.

They can loan you useful equipment (such as picking sticks, gloves, bags and high-visibility vests) as well as arranging to get rid of the collected litter.

Contact details:

Babergh District Council Litter Picking 📞0300 123 4000 (option 7)
Mid Suffolk District Councils Litter Picking 📞0300 123 4000 (option 7)
East Suffolk Council Litter Picking: 📞0333 016 2000
Ipswich Borough Council Litter Picking: 📞01473 432000
West Suffolk Council Litter Picking: 📞01284 763233

Waste collection

If you have collected a few bags of litter by yourself, the easiest thing to do is to place these in your usual household waste bin. You can put plastic bottles, cans and paper in your recycling bin as long as they're clean, dry and loose.

For larger amounts of waste, contact your local waste collection authority who can arrange for it to be collected. This is the easiest way of dealing with the litter from a large community litter pick. Collections are available Monday to Friday by prior arrangement.

Recycling centres

You can take the litter to one of the Suffolk Recycling Centres, but you will need to book a slot on our online booking form before going. You will also need to complete a litter pick waste declaration and authorisation form (see useful documents below) to certify the source of the waste. The Recycling Centre Team Leader will then be required to counter sign the form. This is to ensure that no hazardous or unauthorised commercial waste is being deposited.

Please be aware we will not accept hazardous or unauthorised waste at a recycling centre. You must take it away and contact your waste collection authority for collection and disposal.

If you do plan to take the litter to one of the recycling centres, we would encourage that you collect recyclables such as cans and glass bottles separately, for ease of recycling on arrival at the site.

For licensing reasons, the recycling centres cannot accept tyres, liquid or hazardous waste, so please don’t attempt to remove these by yourselves.

If in the course of your community litter pick you come across tyres, liquid, hazardous, or bulky items that have been fly-tipped on public land, please leave them where they are and report them to your local waste collection authority.

Why not visit Suffolk Coast and Heaths Beachwatch for ways you can help and get involved to help keep Suffolk's beaches clean.

Visit @UKRubbishwalks to collaborate with other volunteers or interested parties that want to keep our beaches and streets litter free.

You could also contact a listed group in the list below or contact your local waste collection authority to add your group to the list.

Great British Beach Clean

The Great British Beach Clean is run by the Marine Conservation Society (MCS) where volunteer litter pickers record information about the litter they collect along the coastline. The important survey data helps assemble a national and international picture of litter, which the MCS uses to call for policy change to tackle ocean pollution.

To find out more and information on how to get involved visit the Marine Conservation Society's website.

Great British Spring Clean

The Great British Spring Clean is organised by Keep Britain Tidy and is the nation's biggest mass-action environmental campaign. For more information on how to get involved visit their website.

Local support

Local Authorities in Suffolk are supporting both these initiatives so for advice on litter picking equipment and litter collection contact your local council below:

East Suffolk- 📧 ESN.info@ncsgrp.co.uk

West Suffolk-📧 volunteers@westsuffolk.gov.uk

Babergh Mid Suffolk –📧 public.realm@baberghmidsuffolk.gov.uk

Ipswich Borough Council –📧 LoveYourStreet@ipswich.gov.uk