Basildon Council’s We’re Cleaning Up campaign gains national recognition

Basildon Council’s We’re Cleaning Up campaign has received national recognition after being nominated as a contender for the National Recycling Awards. 

The nomination has been announced for last summer’s We’re Cleaning Up campaign, which included litter picks, social media takeovers, a flytipping campaign film, outdoor visibility, outreach and even art. It resulted in 40,000 video views and 32,000 interactions, 1,527 special collections and importantly, 132 fewer flytips in comparison to the previous year.

Leader of Basildon Council, Councillor Gavin Callaghan said:

“The ‘We’re Cleaning Up’ campaign helped embody a new pride in our borough and the actions everyone can take to help the council keep the borough clean.

“It’s as relevant this summer as it was last: we have kept waste collections going throughout the pandemic and no one has a reasonable excuse to flytip. Reporting flytipping and helping us take enforcement action against it is something we are continuing with our residents.

“Very few residents flytip but those that do cost the borough, cause big issues for residents, and a big amount of work for council staff.

“That’s why the ultimate goal of the campaign was to lower flytipping and littering across the borough—which this campaign successfully achieved.”

Chair of the Neighbourhoods and Public Spaces Committee, Councillor David Harrison said:

“We’re Cleaning Up was able to unite residents and create a sense of ownership amongst communities.

“It led to the formation of new litter picking groups who have made a real difference, not only to the environment but with a stronger sense of community in general.”

The nominated campaign will now battle it out with other local authority campaigns as a finalist at December’s National Recycling Awards 2020.