A comprehensive survey of streets and parks across England has revealed that only one in ten locations was free of litter, according to a new report by Keep Britain Tidy.

Between 2013 and 2024, researchers walked 1,140 miles through rural villages, housing estates, parks, and city centres to assess litter levels. Their findings, detailed in the report A Rubbish Reality, show that just nine out of every 100 surveyed places were entirely litter-free. Additionally, streets in the most deprived areas were three times more likely to be littered than those in more affluent areas.

“Litter is considered to be not significant in terms of measurement of deprivation. But what we found is that it does have a profound effect. It makes people feel unsafe. It’s something that people notice. It makes people feel embarrassed about where they live and where they work,” said Allison Ogden-Newton, chief executive at Keep Britain Tidy.

The most commonly discarded items included cigarette butts, sweet and chocolate wrappers, chewing gum packaging, and drink bottles and cans.

The report also highlights the negative effects of litter on mental health, safety, and economic development. When shown an image of a littered street, two-thirds of survey respondents said they would feel unsafe walking there at night, while one in seven believed that living in such an area would harm their mental health.

Litter was also seen as a deterrent to investment. Eighty-seven percent of respondents said they would be reluctant to buy or rent a home in a heavily littered area, and more than three-quarters believed that high litter levels would discourage businesses from setting up there.

“I think that’s quite a significant indicator that it needs to be addressed if we want people to feel proud of where they live and to take care of it, but also if we want to attract investment into those areas and create opportunities for people,” said Ogden-Newton.

Ogden-Newton, stressed the need for producer responsibility and a national litter strategy to address the issue. The charity supports the introduction of a deposit return scheme, a recycling initiative where consumers pay a deposit on single-use drink containers, reclaimable upon return. This scheme is set to launch in 2027 across England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, aiming to reduce waste and encourage recycling.

“We’re the largest consumers of food and drink on the go in Europe. That we’re actually creating an awful lot of packaging … the deposit return scheme will have a radical effect and dramatically improve the amounts of drinks containers, specifically plastic and aluminium, that are subsequently littered,” Ogden-Newton said.