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Solid Waste Management
LIFE of LITTER
The City of Roanoke defines litter as: dumping, casting, leaving or otherwise disposing of solid waste or other unsightly matter on a public highway, street or right-of-way, park or other public property, or on private property, without the written consent of the owner is prohibited, (City Code Section 14.1-3(a)).
Litter gets blown around by the winds, and is eventually washed by the rain into streams and rivers where it destroys wildlife and ruins our beneficial use of the water for things like drinking, swimming, and fishing. As a partial response to this problem, the City's Office of Environmental Management uses stenciling or markings of our storm sewer inlets with a reminder that reads "Dump No Waste-Drains to the Roanoke River".
Once discarded litter can remain a hazard in the environment for a very long time:
Cigarette Butts - 1 to 5 years
Do you know that an estimated 2 billion cigarette butts are littered every day, and the concentrated toxins in just one cigarette butt is enough to cause long term environmental damage that can take decades to reverse.
Organics:
Orange and Banana peels - up to 2 years
Paper Bag - 1 month
Wood - 10 to 15 years
These could be composted or mulched
Inorganic:
Plastic coated paper - 5 years
Plastic bags - 10 to 20 years
Nylon fabric 30 to 40 years
Plastic 6-pack holders - 100 years
Items that could be recycled:
Paper & Cardboard - 1 month - many years
Tin Cans - 80 to 100 years
Aluminum Cans - 200 to 500 years
Glass Bottles - 1,000,000 years
Plastic Bottles - Unknown, perhaps millions of years
Styrofoam - Unknown, perhaps millions of years
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