DelDOT and its partners collected almost 92,000 bags of trash as part of the Keep DE Litter Free initiative.
The trash picked up on Delaware roads didn’t stop there as nearly 5,000 tires and 68 appliances were also picked up last year.
DelDOT’s director of community relations C.R. McLeod says some of the other troublesome areas include on and off ramps.
"Overall in those heavily traveled corridors exits and on-ramps to our roads are in particular very problematic,” said McLeod. “For some reason we just seem to have a lot of trash build up in those areas."
In all, there was a nearly 25% increase in litter collection in 2023.
McLeod says because more trash is being picked off the roadways doesn’t mean the initiative is failing.
"Looking over the past couple of years we've collected more than a quarter million bags of trash that otherwise largely would just be out there, and the trash itself it's not that it just looks bad it also has a detrimental effect on the environment. We have a lot of waterways in our state, we're close to the water. A lot of this trash can ultimately end up in that water," said McLeod.
McLeod says rural areas – mainly in Sussex County – have been troublesome with the dumping of tires on the side of the roads.
He adds DelDOT is always looking for volunteer groups to help clean a segment of a roadway about three times a year with DelDOT providing the equipment needed.
The trash was collected by DelDOT Maintenance & Operations employees, DART, Adopt-A-Highway/Sponsor-A-Highway efforts, the Work A Day Earn A Pay Program, and with help from the Delaware Department of Correction inmate work program.
