Lexington County Litter Solutions

GET INVOLVED

Become a Lexington County Litter Champion!

If you do not have a group but still want to help, contact Lexington County's Litter Administrator, Lorie Sempervive, at (803) 785-4940 or LSempervive@lex-co.com to become a Litter Champion and to receive a free litter supply kit provided by PalmettoPride. 

Click here: https://bit.ly/LEXCOLCSU to complete the online application

Click here for the PDF of the request form.

Thank you to the following Lexington County Litter Champions for helping to keep our county litter free!

Melvin and Della Boone

David Eger

Alison Dean & Friends

Tammy Gladden

Barbara Martin and 12 Neighbors

George and Trudy Norton

Richard and Jean Senterfeit

Gerald Taylor

Melaney Torcoletti

 

 

Email for Reporting Littered Roadways

Help us clean up Lexington County roadways, highways and waterways.  If you see an area with excessive litter, email location details to ReportLitter@lex-co.com.  Lexington County’s Solid Waste Management Litter Crew will work to clean it up.  Responses will not be sent from the automated email system but requests will be noted and added to the crew's work schedule. 

 

Litter Free Lexington County, SC Program

Litter Free Lexington County SC, is a new initiative  in 2022 hosted by Lexington County Department of Solid Waste Management that aims to connect volunteers interested in helping cleanup litter in the county to those who work with litter management on a daily basis. The program hopes to provide resources for municipalities and a network for local volunteers to get involved in their neighborhoods throughout the county.

SIGN UP FOR OUR NEXT EVENT! ~ Coming soon, Spring 2025

 

Lakeside Litter Sweep on Lake Murray-

Saturday, September 14, 2024

End the summer with a splash by joining the KMB team for a cleanup on the shorelines of Lake Murray, and waterways across Lexington and Richland Counties!

Volunteers with boats are encouraged to travel by boat to clean islands. Volunteers without their own boat will be invited to clean the shores, OR travel to islands on Lake Murray in boats!

All supplies will be provided, and volunteers will receive a thank-you gift, door prizes, plus entry to win grand prizes including jet ski and pontoon boat rentals! Grab a friend or neighbor, form a group, and we'll see you on the lake or river!

Email programs@kmbsc.org for more information or REGISTER HERE: https://bit.ly/LSRS24LC 

REGISTRATION CLOSES SEPTEMBER 6th, 2024

Have a Group or Business?  Call Keep the Midlands Beautiful to adopt a highway or waterway and make a real difference!

If you have a group willing and able to pick up litter just four times a year for two years, please contact Keep the Midlands Beautiful at 803-733-1139 or aah@kmbsc.org to adopt a highway or waterway.  Supplies will be provided.  Go to https://keepthemidlandsbeautiful.org/ to learn more.

Spotless Service Saturdays

Check out KMB's Spotless Service Saturday Events! For more information and to sign up, click here!

 

What YOU Can Do to Prevent and Control Litter

1. Secure every load, every time and do it right.

• Tie garbage bags tightly, twice.
• Take bags to the Collection and Recycling Centers before they disintegrate.
• Use a tarp or net to cover all loads and/or secure them with a rope or bungee cord.
• If items are placed in a garbage can for transportation, cover the can and secure the lid.
• What seems secure while stopped, may not be secure while driving.  Things shift, roll, blow, bump, and fly out.  It’s not them causing that ugly litter.  It is us.  Let’s make it stop.

2. Report people who litter. 

• Call PalmettoPride’s Litter Busters Hotline at 1-877-7LITTER to report their license plate, what you saw, where and when you saw it.  They’ll get a letter in the mail and hopefully they’ll think twice and be more careful next time. 
• Go to PalmettoPride (report a litterbug) or Bust a Litterbug for more information.
• Download the Palmetto Pride Litter Busters App! Available in your Apple or Android Play store
• Email us at: ReportLitter@lex-co.com- Photos or videos are accepted

3. Convince your friends, family, coworkers and neighbors to secure their loads correctly

    and not to litter.

• It might take a few more minutes to add a tarp but it will have a tremendous impact!

 

Tarp Your Load!  It's the Law.

• Did you know that in Lexington County and in South Carolina it is illegal to operate a vehicle from which material is escaping?  In fact, it is a crime punishable by a maximum fine of $1,087 and a minimum of 15 hours of litter pick-up.  Litter decreases the beauty of our county, decreases property value and is harmful to wildlife.
• According to PalmettoPride, unsecured loads are the number one source of litter in South Carolina and they are therefore illegal in South Carolina and Lexington County.  Please remember to secure your load and tarp as needed when traveling to and from the county’s collection and recycling centers and landfill.  
• Go to Litter and the Law and State Littering Law for more information. 
• Download and share this flyer to encourage people you know to tarp their loads.
   

Keep Waste In Its Place   

Litter, defined as misplaced solid waste, is harmful to Lexington County and to South Carolina. Litter endangers our environment, our wildlife, and our economy. It pollutes our neighborhoods, decreases property values, and destroys our county’s natural beauty. Litter can also lead to increased crime; it signals to criminals that residents don’t care what happens in their neighborhood and makes the area more vulnerable.

 

Lexington County Solid Waste Management works hard to keep waste in its place, and asks that you do the same. 

 

What Lexington County Is Doing To Prevent and Control Litter

• In 2017, Solid Waste Management created their first position dedicated to litter. 
• In January, 2018, the Solid Waste Management Department formally established a four person litter crew.
• In January, 2018, the Solid Waste Management Department established an email address for residents to use to report littered roadways in need of attention.  It is ReportLitter@lex-co.com.
• In early 2019, two Code Enforcement Officers were hired by Solid Waste Management to assist with the enforcement of litter laws.
• In late February, 2019, the Solid Waste Management Department established a "Lexington County Litter Control Champions" program through which litter pick-up supplies (grabbers, gloves, safety vests, etc.) from PalmettoPride are given to residents who volunteer to pick up litter in their communities.  In return, the volunteers simply report the amount they collect.
• In 2022, Solid Waste Management started presenting an annual litter report to residents and County Council to demonstrate all measures the county is taking to fight litter. 

Numbers from the Lexington County 2022 Annual Litter Report: