PITTSBURGH, PA (August 23, 2021) Mayor William Peduto joined the Department of Public Works and the Clean Pittsburgh Commission today to announce the City’s Goals on Littering and Dumping (GOLD) Plan for eradicating litter and illegal dumping citywide. The GOLD Plan is a two-pronged approach for city investments in anti-littering and dumping initiatives and opportunities for residents to help in their communities.
A recent litter cost study indicates that in Pennsylvania, taxpayers spend almost $68 million on litter and illegal dumping mitigation. Pittsburgh has over 800 known illegal dumping sites and is making investments to strengthen enforcement efforts to catch the perpetrators of this ugly crime that is seen frequently citywide. The City and Clean Pittsburgh Commission have announced new initiatives to combat litter, including:
- New high resolution cameras purchased by the Clean Pittsburgh Commission to be placed at known dumping sites throughout the city to identify those illegally dumping and collect evidence.
- Updating City Code to more clearly define litter and illegal dumping violations and to update penalties to include community restitution.
- A recommendation to create positions that focus on enforcement and community outreach around illegal dumping, litter and other trash-related issues.
"Littering and illegal dumping is a real problem in our city and it creates blight in our neighborhoods and our hillsides, but we must all work together to combat it,” said Mayor Peduto. “I'd like to thank the Clean Pittsburgh Commission for these important recommendations so that the city can dedicate more resources to addressing littering and dumping and look forward to continuing to working with our partners and our residents towards zero litter in our beautiful city.”
City officials also announced opportunities for residents and community groups to join in the campaign to end litter and dumping in the City of Pittsburgh, including:
- Register volunteer neighborhood clean up events on the DPW website. DPW can provide gloves, bags and coordinate picking up refuse bags for your event.
- Download the Litterati app to use during clean up events to pick up litter and data. This crowdsourced data will be the most detailed litter data ever collected in Pittsburgh, which DPW will use to develop a local litter index and inform future anti-litter initiatives.
- Go for GOLD with your neighbors in the fifth annual citywide Garbage Olympics on September 18, an annual competitive litter pick up event. Learn more and register here.
The GOLD Plan was developed using data and information in partnership with the Clean Pittsburgh Commission, Allegheny CleanWays, Pennsylvania Resources Council, Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy and more. A copy of the plan is available here.
