There is no statutory definition of litter. The Environmental Protection Act 1990 (s.87) states that litter is ‘anything that is dropped, thrown, left or deposited that causes defacement, in a public place’. This accords with the popular interpretation that ‘litter is waste in the wrong place’. However, local authority cleansing officers and their contractors have developed a common understanding of the term and the definition used for NI195 (and for the LEQSE) is based on this industry norm.
