Butetown faces a huge litter crisis with little help from the local council

50% of the Welsh population admit to littering and Butetown in Cardiff has had the worst of it with streets filled with rubbish and waste.

An issue that has taken over Butetown is that of littering the streets in and around the area and near the areas of Cardiff Bay. This has become a concern to the people living in Butetown and despite several petitions to the local council by the residents of Butetown, the cries have fallen to deaf ears.

The residents of Butetown and the owners of shops and restaurants in Cardiff Bay have complained of severe littering around the area that has caused them great inconvenience. The streets of Butetown are filled with garbage of various kinds, be it polythene bags or beer cans. The range is diverse when it comes to littering and the authorities are not doing much to help.

Shop owners say that the smell and the look of littered streets ward off customers and clients and that in turn has a negative impact on their business. Tourists who come to visit the Bay don’t like to go into the areas which have trash lying around which has an economical effect on the small local establishments around.

Talking with the locals in Butetown, Alison Jones, a retired activist said “Fixing the littering is not top priority for the council and that just doesn’t work for us. I try to do as much as I can for the community by picking up after my pets and following a proper garbage disposal system but not everyone does and that is a shame.”

Things would improve for Butetown and areas surrounding if proper garbage disposal solutions were to be implemented along with proper awareness about the diseases that littering can cause, not only to humans but also to their pets.

However, there has been slight improvement within the council and the government when it comes to reporting and fining littering.

Local residents can now report littering online. 

They can also pay their outstanding fines online on the same website.