Environmental Protection Act 1990 Section 93 Street Litter Litter can be generated through the trading activities of some retail outlets particularly those selling food. The following commercial and retails outlets are legally responsible for clearing up litter created by their business activities.

a) Premises which sell food and drink to be consumed off the premises eg convenience stores, fish and chip shops, fast food outlets

b) Premises which sell food or drink to be consumed on open land which is part of their premises eg street cafes, public houses with outdoor seating. Petrol service stations which sell food to the public.

c) Indoor and outdoor recreation and entertainment venues eg cinemas, bingo halls, sport centres

d) Banks, building societies with automated cash machines on an outside wall of their premises.

The above businesses should clear up litter generated by their business up to a hundred metres of the frontage in each direction.

Shops selling food to be consumed off the premises should provide their own litter bins outside their premises for food wrappings and containers and dispose of their waste through their commercial waste service.

Banks and building societies should ensure that they keep an area within ten metres of their premises clear of the litter generated by the cash machines.

If the local authority believes that a business is creating significant litter from its activities, it can issue a Street Litter Control Notice. The person of whom the notice is to be served must be warned of the intention and has 21 days to appeal. The street litter control notice will state what a business must do to remove litter, including specifying the frequency with and times which a business must clear up the frontage. It can also require the business to provide its own litter bins and dispose of the litter from these bins.