In the state’s continuing effort to Keep DE Litter Free, DelDOT, and its partners have been busy collecting trash.
More than 59,000 bags of trash were collected last year. 2022 also saw nearly 6,000 tires, 3,500 signs, and 250 appliances removed from Delaware roadways.
Since the initiative started in 2019 more than 216,000 bags of trash have been removed from Delaware roads, according to DelDOT.
C.R. McLeod is DelDOT’s director of community relations, and he says despite all of the trash picked up, it’s a problem that is not going away.
"We really continue to put a lot of resources toward collecting litter, and as we all know just driving around the state we still see a lot out there so it continues to really be a pervasive problem," said McLeod.
Gov. John Carney commented on Delaware’s litter problem during his recent State of the State address, saying people should stop throwing trash out their window in the first place.
Not only does that leave trash on roadways and around parks, residential areas, businesses, and beaches, but DelDOT uses Maintenance and Operations employees to pick up the trash, pulling them away from their normal duties.
McLeod says they’re trying to control another roadway litter issue - items falling out of trucks.
"One of the things we've also been focusing on is the routes that are near our landfills because of trucks that are going to landfills on a daily basis asking those companies to do a better job of securing and covering their loads,” said McLeod. “Because we often see a lot of larger pieces of trash and litter that wouldn't just be of the smaller variety."
Outside of DelDOT, litter removal is performed through Adopt-A-Highway/Sponsor-A-Highway efforts, the Work-a Day Earn-a-Pay Program, and with help from the Department of Correction inmate work program.