Working through our partner Veolia, we offer a wide range of neighbourhood and environmental services that operate seven days a week, 365 days a year.
Street cleaning services operate out of three depots across the SLWP region (Stubbs Mead in Sutton, Chapel Mill Road in Kingston and Garth Road in Merton). Manual sweepers are supported by mechanical sweepers.
18,480 tonnes of street litter collected over a 12-month period *
Streets are swept at different intervals depending on how busy they are:
Veolia is required to clean residential streets to a ‘Grade A Standard’ and maintain them to a ‘Grade B Standard’. But what does that mean?
We use Defra’s Code of Practice on Litter and Refuse to monitor how clean the SLWP boroughs’ streets are. There are four grades of cleanliness ranging from Grade A to Grade D (see table below). Immediately following a clean, all streets should be left at Grade A Standard. Veolia then aim to maintain the street at Grade B or above until the next scheduled clean.
If a street falls below Grade B standard at any time, an additional clean can be requested. Residents can request an additional clean via their local council’s website (see links below). Veolia will visit the street and if it is below a Grade B, they will clean it back to Grade A.
As well as cleaning streets and pavements across the SLWP boroughs, the team empty on-street litter bins and recycling banks, and clear fly-tips reported by the Council and residents, keeping each borough safe, clean and tidy.
Residents can report full, overflowing or damaged litter bins via their local council’s website (see links below). Veolia is required to empty full or overflowing litter bins within 24 hours (two hours for High Streets) and repair or replace damaged litter bins within five working days.
Reports of full or overflowing bins are monitored and emptying schedules are adjusted accordingly.
Street sweepings are placed in green waste bags by the manual street sweepers and left at pre-determined spots for collection. The bags should be collected on the same day.
These street sweeping bags are more prominent in autumn, when they are also used to dispose of leaf fall, and in high footfall areas where street cleaning occurs on a daily basis. We continually work with Veolia to identify the best positions for bags to be left while they are awaiting collection.
Veolia is responsible for clearing fly tips found on roads, pavements, grass verges and council car parks. If you see a fly tip:
Most fly tips will be removed within 24 hours of them being reported. Very large fly tips, or ones that contain hazardous materials, may take longer to clear.
49,612 fly tips cleared over a 12-month period – 97% removed within 24 hours of being reported *
If the fly-tip is on private land, then it is the landowner’s responsibility to clear it. Veolia can provide a clearance service for a fee.
In Merton and Sutton Veolia is responsible for removing graffiti and fly posting from areas like public buildings, monuments, benches and bins.
A dedicated team works across both boroughs five days a week, cleaning litter bins, removing graffiti and fly posting.
Veolia is required to remove offensive, racist or obscene graffiti within 24 hours of it being reported and non-obscene graffiti such as tags within two working days. They aim to remove fly-post materials within five working days.
809 instances of graffiti cleared over a 12-month period *
If the graffiti or fly-posting is on private property, then it is the property/landowner’s responsibility to have it removed. Veolia can provide a cleaning and removal service for a fee.
At certain times of year, the normal street cleaning teams are supported by additional temporary resources to cope with seasonal demand.
The key seasonal challenges are weeds and blossom (spring/summer) and leaf fall (autumn).
Winter gritting services are provided in three of the four SLWP boroughs (Kingston, Merton and Sutton; Croydon manages this service outside of the SLWP contracts).
When temperatures fall and weather forecasts indicate ice, Veolia’s gritting teams are on round-the-clock standby to respond.
All priority areas are gritted first, including main routes and roads around or leading to hospitals, nursing homes, public transport hubs and bus stops. During periods of heavy snowfall, street cleaning teams are redeployed to focus on gritting of pavements.
To report street cleaning issues in your borough, please visit the relevant section of your council’s website:
* Based on 2020/21 tonnage data (April 2020 – March 2021)
Working with our partner Veolia, we collect thousands of tonnes of recycling and rubbish from over 400,000 households every week. We know that recycling and waste collections are really important to our residents and our crews work hard to provide a good service. 99.9% of collections are completed on their scheduled day.
Most preferred environmental option
Reducing waste is the most preferred option. Minimising the amount of waste we produce in the first place is by far the most effective way of reducing the impact we have on the environment.
When waste is created, the waste hierarchy prioritises reuse. Where possible, reusing products and materials before it becomes waste is the next best option. By cleaning, repairing and refurbishing items, we can significantly increase the number of things we reuse.
Recycling is the most environmentally sustainable solution when it comes to disposing of waste. Recycling essentially turns our waste into new items or products, reducing the amount of raw materials required.
For waste that can’t be re-used or recycled, energy recovery is the next best option. Energy from waste is the process of incinerating non-recyclable waste to produce electricity. It helps to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels for power generation and decreases carbon emissions.
At the bottom of the waste hierarchy is the least desirable option: disposal. This is when waste is either sent to landfill or treated in older-style incinerator that doesn’t recover energy from the process. Disposal should always be the last resort for waste.
Least preferred environmental option
