Aberafan Maesteg - Keep Wales Tidy

National data, Local Impact

It is important to note that Constituency areas are very large and cover a range of geographies and demographics (as indeed do many local authorities). For this reason, it is not recommended to try to ‘compare’ each area to another, rural challenges for litter and fly-tipping prevention and cleansing for example, are very different from the challenges faced in urban areas. In addition, our data covers multiple areas of public land and therefore, may be reflective of a number of different landowners, not just local authorities.

The GLÂN data shown is from 2025, a full set of data for 2026 will be available from November and Keep Wales Tidy can update this data report accordingly if there is interest. National data, Local Impact

Afon Ogwr Rhondda

Afon Ogwr Rhondda covers parts of the local authority areas of Neath port Talbot and Bridgend and whilst it contains pockets of high deprivation communities, is also blessed with great beaches, parks and nature. Tailored prevention advice based on our recent GLÂN data provided to the authorities in this area show that transport and commercial areas appear more affected and beach cleanliness is an area for attention. Effective partnerships with Housing Associations in the area are key to both prevention, cleansing and community efforts. We are encouraging all Councils to adopt our Litter Prevention Plans so that we can prevent litter from occurring, promote behavioural change and support improvements to operational efficiency.

In 2025, 51.6% of sites surveyed met an ‘acceptable’ level of cleanliness. This compares to the Wales figure of 58%.
66.6% of sites had drinks related litter present – an issue which we hope will be much reduced by the introduction of a Deposit Return Scheme. (The figure for all of Wales in 2025 was 56.7%)
90.8% of sites had food packaging present – expanding the current Extended Producer Responsibility scheme to cover litter would support this reduction. (The figure for all of Wales in 2025 was 82.6%)

51.6

% of sites surveyed met an ‘acceptable’ level of cleanliness.

66.6

% of sites had drinks related litter present

About our Data

What data does Keep Wales Tidy collect?

Keep Wales Tidy (KWT) have been undertaking litter monitoring for nearly two decades. Our newly expanded, statistically robust and continuous data collection and monitoring methodology (Geospatial Litter Analysis – GLÂN) was implemented in 2025,funded by the Welsh Government). This replaces the previous ‘LEAMS’ surveys. It is not an overstatement to say that this represents the most comprehensive litter and local environmental quality monitoring system in the world.

It is important to note that whilst we also collect some additional data from the many thousands of litter-picking volunteers across Wales, GLÂN is carried out by experienced staff surveyors and has been designed specifically to measure the impacts and progress of policy measures across the whole of Wales (and for each local authority area).

Through GLÂN, we collect data on 70+ categories of litter items as well as other Local Environmental Quality (LEQ) issues such as dog fouling, fly-tipping and graffiti. All types of public land (ie; Parks, streets, beaches) are surveyed with some exceptions limited by access or ownership. The levels of litter translate to a grading system which is commonly understood by Local Authorities and is linked to statutory guidance on cleanliness standards.

‘Live’ litter data for this year and summarised data from 2025 are available on the Keep Wales Tidy Litter Data page.

You can see our detailed individual current and past surveys through our Welsh Litter Index.

Litter Data Welsh Litter Index.

What are the current trends?

Whilst we have seen a general decrease since the baseline in 2007/ 08, certain types of litter have been increasing, mainly food and drink ‘on the go’ as well as new consumer trends such as vapes and N2O cannisters. Cleansing is a statutory function but has been badly affected by budget pressures in recent years and many councils have move to more reactive services – responding to complaints rather than being led by the data. This has led to an increasing disparity between areas with more deprived areas 2.6 times more likely to suffer from worse local environmental quality than more affluent areas.

Keep Wales Tidy are concerned that litter is increasing. In 2025, only 58 % of public spaces surveyed met ‘acceptable’ levels of cleanliness with Wales’s most deprived areas 2.6× more likely to fail the cleanliness threshold.

What do we use the data for?

Keep Wales Tidy work closely with Welsh Government and provide data for various officials. Predominantly, this is through the LEQ and DRS teams in Welsh Government who fund the system, but we also provide data to other departments such as the Substance Misuse team to help to target harm reduction efforts through Local Health Boards.

The data is shared with many stakeholders, including Local Authorities, and we have implemented a notification system to help them to respond to major issues as and when they arise, helping to shape operational efficiency. We are also engaging with other public landowners to increase collaborative working and partnerships.

Internally, the data is also shared with community officers who can help to direct volunteer efforts to where they are most needed (or create new groups). The Policy team that undertakes the surveys in Keep Wales Tidy are also behaviour change practitioners and use the data to advise on prevention activity on the ground and produce behaviour -led guidance papers to share best practice.