Litter Facts

Sunday, 18 April 2010 18:20 | Written by Bob Hollis |

Litter, litter, everywhere! We see litter on our streets, playgrounds and parks everyday. Some litter lasts a few weeks and some litter can hang out for over 1 million years. Look at the lifespan of some commonly littered items:

Item	Decomposition Time
Glass bottle	unknown
Aluminum can	200-500 years
Tin Can	80-100 years
Rubber boot sole	50-80 years
Leather	up to 50 years
Nylon fabric	30-40 years
Plastic film container	20-30 years
Painted wooden stake	13 years
Plastic bag	10-20 years
Plastic coated paper	5 years
Wool clothing	1-5 years
Cigarette butt	1-5 years
Cotton rag	1-5 months
Orange peel or banana peel	2-5 weeks

Source: California Waste Management Bulletin

Cigarette butts are one of the most littered items!

Adopt-A-Highway - Volunteers remove litter from California's Highways.

Storm Water Pollution & Litter - Our storm drains don't just empty water into our oceans and rivers, litter goes there too.

Last Updated (Friday, 14 January 2011 14:08)