Greenwood County is working to build sustainable communities where litter is not tolerated or accepted. Last year, over 4.5 tons of trash was picked up along the county’s roadways and almost 2.5 tons from along the shores of Lake Greenwood.  Litter prevention starts by educating and raising awareness of South Carolina Litter laws and the negative impact litter has on Greenwood County.

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Ways you can help prevent litter?

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• Keep a litter bag in your vehicle to place your bottles, wrappers, etc. until proper disposal is available.

• Make sure your trash cans have tight fitting lids

• Cover or secure your load when hauling waste.

• Encourage and motivate people around you to join in on the cleanup effort

• Look for ways to enhance beautification in your yard or neighborhood

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Negative effects of Litter

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• Decreased community pride

• Up to a 10% drop in property value

• Harms wildlife and their habitats

• Spreads sickness or disease

• Decreases tourism revenue

• Prevents industry growth

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 If you are unable to dispose of your bags you can call Greenwood County Public Works at (864) 942-8662. Or the SCDOT at (864) 227-6701

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About

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Greenwood County is working to build sustainable communities where litter is not tolerated or accepted.  By building partnerships with local organizations and working in tangent with Keep Greenwood County Beautiful 45 tons of litter was picked up along the County's roadways and shores of Lake Greenwood, and 104 trees have been planted last year.  Litter Prevention starts with educating and raising awareness of South Carolina Litter Laws and the negative impact litter has on growth of Greenwood County.

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Education 

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Ways you can help prevent litter.

Keep a litter bag in your vehicle to place your bottles, wrappers, etc. until proper disposal is available.

Make sure your trash cans have tight fitting lids

Cover or secure your load when hauling waste.

Encourage and motivate people around you to join in on the cleanup effort

Look for ways to enhance beautification in your yard or neighborhood

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Negative effects of Litter

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Decreased community pride

Up to a 10% drop in property value

Harms wildlife and their habitats

Spreads sickness or disease

Decreases tourism revenue

Prevents industry growth

Cigarette butts make up roughly 38% of all U.S. roadway litter and take over 5 years to decompose. Other commonly littered items also take extremely long to decompose:

• Plastic bag - (20 years)

• Tin can - (50 years)

• Aluminum can - (200 years)

• Plastic bottle - (450 years)

• Glass bottle - (1 million years)

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Littering Penalties

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The South Carolina General Assembly enacted Act 214 of 2018, amending Section 16-11-700 of the state litter laws. This action by the Legislature was done in an effort to give magistrates and municipal courts greater flexibility in the prosecution of litter cases. This law makes it easier to achieve court-ordered community service/litter pick up by removing the requirement for supervision. Act 214 also "makes the penalties fit the crime" by classifying violations into distinct categories as shown below and providing for a definition of litter.

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• Up to 15 lbs (littering) Persons convicted of placing litter, as defined, on public or private (littering) property must remove that litter and shall be fined not less than $25 and not more than $100, or up to 30 days in jail, and the court must impose eight hours of "litter gathering or other form of community service".

  For persons convicted of placing garbage in another person’s private facility, such as a private dumpster, the fine is not less than $50 and not more than $150, and the court shall impose a minimum of 16 hours "litter gathering or other form of community service". Additional hours of community service may be imposed in lieu of the monetary fine.

   

• Between 15 lbs and 500 lbs (dumping) Persons convicted must be fined not less than $200 nor more than $500, or up to 30 days in jail, and the court shall require 16 hours of litter gathering or other community service. Community service increases to 24 hours upon a second conviction, and 32 hours for a third conviction within five years.

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• More than 500 lbs (dumping) Persons convicted must be fined not less than $500 nor more than $1000, and up to a year in jail. The violator also may be ordered to remove the dumped litter, pay damages, and perform community service.

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The court may enjoin a violation of more than 500 lbs, and may seize vehicles or equipment used for dumping.

If a person sustains damages in connection with a violation of more than 500 lbs that gives rise to a felony against the person or his property, a court, in civil action for those damages, shall order the wrongdoer to pay the injured party triple damages up to $200, along with court costs and attorney’s fees. Fines for dumping more than 500 lbs of litter may not be suspended.

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Tarp Your Load

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According to South Carolina Law,

"no vehicle may be driven or moved on any public highway unless the vehicle is so constructed or loaded to prevent any of its load from dropping, sifting, leaking or otherwise escaping from the vehicle.

Trucks, trailers, or other vehicles when loaded with rock, gravel, stone, or other similar substances which could blow, leak, sift, or drop must not be driven... unless the load is securely covered by tarpaulin or some other suitable covering.”

To view a video on Facebook, click here. 

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Volunteer

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If you would like to volunteer to do a litter pickup, please fill out the form at the link or call or email the Litter Prevention Coordinator. 

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Adopt A Highway

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The South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) and Greenwood County are now working together to maintain the Adopt-A-Highway Program.  In order for the County to continue to make progress in litter abatement we need your continued support of the Adopt-A-Highway program. 

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The Adopt-A-Highway program requires a two year commitment and as a goal encourages a litter pickup to be done along a one mile stretch (or more) of road once a quarter (four times a year).  The benefits of adopting a highway are significant.  It has been proven that a clean community is a safe community and clean communities are great for tourism and economic development.  Along with SCDOT and Palmetto Pride, Greenwood County wants to eradicate litter and promote beautification across Greenwood. 

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The Greenwood County Litter Prevention Coordinator now serves as the Adopt-A-Highway Coordinator for Greenwood, South Carolina. If interested in getting involved with the Adopt-A-Highway program in Greenwood, please contact her using the information below. 

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Amber Nappier
864-942-8705
anappier@greenwoodsc.gov

 

Note: There is now a new agreement form, which is below. If you are already a part of the AAH program, please make sure a new agreement has been signed since January 2021.  If you think your sign has been taken down in error, please contact the Litter Prevention Coordinator. 

Adopt-A-Highway Form

More Adopt-A-Highway Information 

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