Instead Of £75 Fines – If You Bin Litter You Could Win £50!

Residents and visitors to Wrexham could soon bag themselves a £50 reward for disposing of their litter responsibly.

The new reward scheme will feature as part of the ‘Bin it to Win it’ initiative, which has been introduced by Kingdom, Wrexham Council’s partners in Environmental Enforcement.

Members of the public will be given a chance to win £50 in local shopping vouchers simply by putting their litter in a bin or picking up if their dog has fouled.

If they are spotted by one of the regular Kingdom Security Enforcement Officers they will give them an entry form to be entered into the monthly prize draw. However those found littering or not picking up after their dog has fouled, will continue to be ‘rewarded’ with a £75 fine!

Speaking about the scheme, Cllr David A Bithell, Lead Member for the Environment and Transport, said: “The ‘Bin it to Win it’ initiative is designed to promote Wrexham as a cleaner greener environment for residents and businesses through the County Borough.

“Kingdom Officers are regularly seeing visitors and residents using our litter bins and it is only right that such instances are rewarded with high street shopping vouchers.

“Kingdom have proposed to introduce and fund this initiative and we are pleased to support. It costs Wrexham Council £1.2 million pounds a year to keep our streets clean. We want to encourage residents to support the initiative as tackling littering and dog fouling is one of the administrations priorities.”

Ashley Houston, Team Leader for Kingdom Security, said: “Kingdom have welcomed the opportunity to start the “Bin it win it” Scheme in an attempt to not only reward responsible members of the public but to win the support and give the community something back.

“Whilst patrolling the area our officers have witnessed a high number of responsible dog walkers picking up after their dogs and people going out their way to use a bin.

“We believe the “Bin it to win it” scheme will be a powerful way to reward the public and also educate, raise awareness of our patrols and pass the word around the community.”

The Kingdom enforcement officers were brought in by Wrexham Council back at the start of April 2016 to crackdown on littering and dog fouling across the county borough.

Last month saw over 350 people fined for dropping cigarette butts in Wrexham – with a total of 405 fines of £75 issued throughout the month. During April, the first month of the crackdown, a total of 591 fines were issued – totalling over £44,000.

The new targeted approach to tackling dog fouling and dropping litter in Wrexham has developed a mixed response, with more than 100 Fixed Penalty Notices issued within the first day of the ‘zero tolerance approach’. Some have welcomed the new approach to tackling littering, while others have claimed it is a ‘heavy handed approach’

Cllr Bithell added: “We will continue to have a zero tolerance approach to littering, ignoring dog control order zones or to not picking up after your dog has fouled.

“Our message has been clear from the start if you do not dispose of litter, observe dog control area signs pick up after your dog has fouled you have nothing to fear.”