Adopt-A-Highway

 The Adopt-A-Highway Program gives local citizens an opportunity
to help keep roads and highways clean and attractive
throughout Citrus County.
 

Any interested group of people can volunteer to keep a section of roadway at least two miles long clear of litter with regular cleanups.

A group can be any size. We have groups ranging from 1 person up to 40+ people.

If you would like more information about the Citrus County Adopt-A-Highway program, please contact us at 352-527-7670 or by email at landfillinfo@citrusbocc.com.

The Adopt-A-Highway Program gives local citizens an opportunity to help keep roads and highways clean by adopting a two-mile section on any county road. State roads, Hwy. 19, Hwy. 41, Hwy. 44, and Hwy. 200 are handled by FDOT. Please call
1-800-BAN-LITT(ER) or 1-800-226-5488.

• Any interested group of people can volunteer to participate in regular cleanups to keep roadways clear of litter.
  
• The volunteer organizations promise to clean the road at least four times a year for two years.
  
• All cleanups must be reported to our office.
  
• The County will pick up the special trash bags when notified the cleanup is complete.
  
• The Solid Waste Management Division provides Safety signs to be used during cleanup activities, bright orange vests and gloves for volunteers to wear, safety information and special trash bags.
  
• The County puts up a sign designating the roadway as adopted and naming the group that has promised to keep the roadside clean.
• The County provides worker’s compensation insurance.

LITTER FACTS

1. U.S. roadways accumulate over 51 billion pieces of litter per year.¹
2. There are an estimated 6,729 pieces of litter per roadway mile.¹
3. On average, there are 152 pieces of litter for every U.S. resident.¹
4. The most commonly littered items are cigarette butts, food wrappers, plastic bottles, disposable cups, grocery bags, straws and aluminum beverage cans.¹
5. Litter cleanups cost the U.S. an estimated $11.5 billion annually.¹
6. Paying the costs, businesses pay $9.1 billion, NGOs pay $769 million, educational institutions pay $240 million and the rest is paid using your state and local tax dollars.³
7. The presence of litter in your neighborhood or community lowers property values by 7%.¹
8. Packaging litter makes up 46% of litter measuring 4 inches or greater.¹
9. 2.6 billion pieces of food packaging litter (snack bags, candy wrappers, etc.) were identified in a 2020 survey of U.S. roadways and waterways.²
10. 394.7 million fast-food cups and 423 million other fast-food packaging items were identified in the same survey.²
11. Plastic waste comprises 38.6% of all litter.²
12. An average American litters or improperly disposes of 100 plastic bottles per year.⁷
13. 207 million items of PPE masks and gloves were found across America’s roads and waterways in 2020.²
14. An estimated 350 million plastic bags were discovered on U.S. roadways and waterways in 2020, 94.6% of which were HDPE grocery bags.²
15. 100,000 marine mammals and turtles and 1 million sea birds are killed by marine plastic pollution every year.⁵
16. Between 10–12 million metric tons of plastic waste enters the ocean each year.⁶
17. Without immediate action, researchers estimate 29 million metric tons will enter the oceans annually by 2040.⁶
18. One million marine animals are killed by plastic marine litter every year.³
19. Both direct and indirect costs from plastic marine litter is estimated to cost the world $197 billion by 2030.⁴
20. A littered plastic water bottle takes 450 years to decompose; an aluminum can takes 200; a glass bottle takes 1 million.⁸

Sources for “The Facts About Litter in the U.S.”:

1. Keep America Beautiful.“Litter in America.”
2. Keep America Beautiful.“2020 National Litter Study.”
3. Yahoo.“It Costs Over $11 Billion Per Year To Clean Up Litter.”
4. Science Direct.“The cost of marine litter damage.”
5. Surfers Against Sewage. "Plastic Pollution: Facts and Figures."
6. National Geographic. “Plastic trash flowing into the seas will nearly triple by 2040 without drastic action.”
7. Washington Post. “Congrats! You dump 100 plastic bottles in nature each year.”
8. Peace Corps. “Timeline for Decomposition.”

To report illegal dumping in your neighborhood, call Code Compliance at (352) 527-5350. You will need to provide:

• Property address or directions to dump site.
• Nature of dump site.
• Your name and phone number for follow-up.

Contact the Division of Solid Waste Management at (352) 527-7670 or email landfillinfo@citrusbocc.com