Community groups and volunteers in Aberdeen have gathered more than 2,500 bags of rubbish in nearly 160 litter picks over the course of the year.
The Clean-up Aberdeen Project, led by the council’s environmental services team, was set up to encourage more residents to go out collecting rubbish and cleaning graffiti in their local areas.
More than 2,000 volunteers from local schools, universities, businesses, sports clubs and community groups have been involved in the year-long litter blitz.
Perhaps the biggest challenge of the last 12 months for the teams was the devastating effects of Storm Frank which battered the north-east last year.
An army of 500 people volunteered for the clean-up at Aberdeen Beach in the aftermath of the storm.
In March, the team joined the national Clean for the Queen campaign, which involved clean ups across the city who cleared parts of old railway lines.
A 24-hour “glitter pick” when 24 locations were cleaned over 24 hours was held on June 24.
A total of 297 participants from eight schools, four friends groups, two residents associations, two community flats and two councillors filled 298 bags of litter.
Riverbank School, Adventure Aberdeen and Aberdeen City Council Environmental Services took to the water in canoes in September, to clean litter at Pot Heugh. The initiative focused on making the area beautiful for tourists and leisure visitors.
Infrastructure convener Neil Cooney said the team would be back to work in the new year.
He said: “Our public spaces are for everyone to enjoy and if we can influence a change in the litter dropping habits in the city with this campaign then we will be improving the quality of life for residents, visitors and also our city wildlife.
“Aberdeen City Council spends over £4million each year on clearing litter from Aberdeen’s streets and open spaces. We have dozens of staff who work hard to keep our city clean, however, they can’t be everywhere at all times so these community efforts are to be applauded.
“Aberdeen is not alone in tackling litter issues. It is a Scotland-wide issue. Householders and landowners spend significant sums of money clearing mess from their own land, and Scottish Government spends approximately £75million of public money on litter and fly-tipping each year.”
