How Many Dollars Does Your State Spend Picking Up Roadside Trash? By Julie Peller, Ph.D.

Green Junction

Garbage along highways can endanger drivers. The Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT) spent nearly $10 million of its budget to clear garbage from the roads in 2024. The state’s website includes strong statements about the unfortunate use of state funds for trash removal. “ALDOT’s mission is to maintain and improve roads, not trash collection. ALDOT also contracts with companies to remove trash from interstates and state roads and coordinates with volunteers from the Adopt-A-Mile program. Despite these efforts, cleanup costs continue to rise.” The ALDOT website lists how the money is intended for use, such as improving road intersections, resurfacing roads, and implementing sidewalks, crosswalks, and guardrails. 

According to a study by Duke University and project partners, “In 2023, North Carolinians spent $56.3M cleaning up 14.6M pounds of litter.” The study categorized the type of litter removed and found that “the majority of litter is made of plastic, including about 60% of roadway litter and 80-90% of litter in water sources.” Not surprisingly, the litter count included numerous plastic beverage bottles, along with plastic food take-out containers, plastic bags, and plastic utensils.

The best and most obvious solution is to reduce single-use items, particularly plastics. A recommendation in the Duke University report is a state bottle deposit program. Ten states currently have bottle bills, where drink purchases require deposits of 5 to 15 cents per container. Studies show that bottle returns and recycling are significantly higher where these programs exist.

The importance of reducing single-use materials (including plastic cups from coffee shops!) and cheap, short-lived products cannot be overstated. In the meantime, consider joining community cleanups. The Alliance for the Great Lakes organizes an annual fall beach cleanup, scheduled for ^{19 September} this year (https://adopt.greatlakes.org/s/). The Plastic Reduction Alliance also organizes cleanups and is looking for volunteers for their September 27^th road and park cleanups (https://www.plasticreductionalliance.org/events#upcoming-events). Details are on the website. When possible, choose buckets or other reusable containers for cleanups, since plastic bags add to the plastic waste. 

---

Julie Peller, Ph.D., is an environmental chemist (Professor of Chemistry at Valparaiso University). She has written a weekly column, The Green Junction, for the past few years and is helping move the call of Laudato Si to action. Her research interests include advanced oxidation in aqueous solutions, water quality analyses, emerging contaminants, air quality analyses, challenges along the Lake Michigan shoreline (including Cladophora, water, and sediment contaminants), and student and citizen participation in environmental work.