The Geography of Litter

Understanding litter and littering is not as straightforward as one may assume, as littering is a complex social-environmental issue. Littering nuances relate to a wide range of factors (e.g., litter movements, litter types, mitigations), but despite complexities, research and policy has historically approached the issue through behavioural intervention; reduce litter by addressing littering. Limited research efforts focus on holistically understanding physical properties of litter, material composition and regional variation. This thesis investigates these intricacies, exploring and testing the subtleties of litter and littering dynamics with focus on urban, British settings. In collaboration with non-government organizations and local governments in London, Manchester, Birmingham and Brighton, interdisciplinary methods from human and physical geography were used to reveal insights that reframe litter and littering.