Statutory guidance

Litter and refuse: code of practice

This code of practice outlines what a court of law might consider as applicable to different types of land.

From:
Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs
Published
1 April 2013
Last updated
35 March 2026 — See all updates

Applies to England

Documents

Code of practice on litter and refuse

Ref: ISBN 978-1-5286-6247-5

HTML

Explanatory memorandum for parliament on the code of practice for litter and refuse

PDF, 191 KB, 4 pages

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Details

The Environmental Protection Act 1990 imposes duties under section 89(1) and (2) on certain landowners and occupiers to keep specified land clear of litter and refuse, and on local authorities and the Secretary of State to keep clean public highways for which they are responsible.

This document provides a practical guide to the discharge of these duties and applies to England only.

Part 1 contains a code of practice (referred to throughout as ‘the Code’) issued under section 89(7) of the Environmental Protection Act (EPA) 1990.

Part 2 contains advisory standards for graffiti and fly-posting. Such defacement, even if partially removed, has an adverse affect on the quality of the environment and can lead to an increase in crime. Even if all of the litter and refuse were cleared, the public would perceive the area to be defaced if graffiti or fly-posting were still present.

Part 3 contains details of the legislative framework that surrounds this code of practice.

Updates to this page

Published 1 April 2013
Last updated 35 March 2026 + show all updates

  1. Published the Explanatory memorandum for parliament on the code of practice for litter and refuse.

  2. Following collaboration with local authorities and other duty bodies we have updated the COPLR with clearer explanations, higher quality images and updated legislative references.

  3. We have updated the maximum full penalties in section 11L.0 of the Part 1A enforcement guidance.

  4. We have updated Section 11P.0 of the Part 1A enforcement guidance to show recent changes to legislation. The February 2022 section of this page has details about these changes.

  5. Added the modification note, modified code of practice document and part 1A - enforcement guidance document.

  6. First published.

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