How clean are our streets in Wales?

We’ve published our latest independent annual report on street cleanliness in Wales. We survey thousands of streets in every corner of the country and have been doing so since 2007.

If you’re looking for the most recent and reliable street litter data for Wales, you’ve come to the right place! We produce the only consistent and robust measure of street litter data for the whole of Wales.

Our one-of-a-kind report has revealed that smoking litter was found on three in four streets across the country in 2022-23. Despite significant improvements in smoking-related litter since surveys began, cigarette butts, vapes, packaging and filter tips were found on 76% of streets this year. Single use vapes are new culprits captured for the first time in this year’s report.

‘How Clean Are Our Streets?’ brings together results from thousands of street cleanliness surveys to give a ‘snapshot’ of litter and other environmental quality issues.

So, how clean are our streets?

Headline results from the How Clean Are Our Streets? report include:

96% of streets grade B and above. Grade B and above means the streets are an acceptable level of cleanliness.
Dog fouling was recorded on 6% of streets – the lowest figure since street cleanliness surveys began in 2007-08.
Litter dropped by pedestrians remains the most common source.
On-the-go food and drink packaging found on 65% of streets.
Smoking litter is the most common type of litter, found on three in four streets. New trend identified – Early estimates suggest vape litter found on 6% of streets.
7,450 wet wipes littered on streets of Wales at any time.

Read our ‘How Clean Are Our Streets? 2022-23’ report and the survey methodology.

Take action in your community!

With our annual Spring Clean Cymru clean-up campaign just around the corner, we’re calling on everyone to get outside and take action in your community between 17 March – 2 April.

Help tackle litter on our streets, green spaces and beaches by pledging to collect a bag of litter (or more).

Everyone can make a big difference to our environment.