From BBC
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Environment correspondent, BBC Wales News
Gareth Bryer
BBC News
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Littering has reached a “crisis point,” campaigners have said, after surveys of street cleanliness across Wales revealed the worst situation on record.
Keep Wales Tidy said the rise was mainly being driven by a “huge increase” of on-the-go food and drinks packaging, as well as pressure on council street cleaning budgets.
Councils told BBC news they were “struggling” to maintain budgets to clear litter in the face of increased costs in other areas, like social care.
The Welsh government said it was working with local authorities and others to ensure “more clean and cared for areas”.
Keep Wales Tidy’s annual report found the worst results for street cleanliness in the 17 years since the charity’s surveys began.
Keep Britain Tidy said it was an issue right across the country and “only a small fraction of locations” in England were completely litter free.
Despite declaring “a litter emergency” in 2022, Keep Scotland Tidy also warned that litter levels continued to rise.
In Wales, the problem was found to be worst in towns and cities – with more than 35% of urban areas seeing “unacceptable” levels of litter.
There was also a 286% increase in the number of the most dirty streets, graded “D” for cleanliness.
Smoking-related litter and food and drinks packaging were the most common types of litter found.
In Cardiff, where the council spends more than £7m a year on street cleaning, the worst performing “D” streets were found in some of
