Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas, Kansas City Manager Brian Platt, and Public Works Director Michael Shaw today held a press conference to share Kansas City government’s efforts to address litter and illegal dumping, to remind residents how to report litter to the City, and ways the community can get involved in outdoor cleanup efforts.
The City has been keeping a close eye on known illegal dumping sites and is scheduling regular cleanups throughout the year to address these areas. If a City investigator finds any evidence of who the trash belongs to, notice is given to either do a self-clean within 48 hours or a citation is given. For residents in need of unconventional trash services, the City offers free bulky item collection to residents, scheduled by appointment, will host several major cleanup and hard-to-recycle events throughout the year, and offers several programs for neighborhood and civic groups to get involved in their community to remove blight and perform litter control.
“I thank our dedicated City workforce for their year-round efforts to investigate and prevent illegal dumping activity, for working extra shifts to address high litter areas, and for supporting programs to help Kansas Citians keep their own neighborhoods clean and litter free,” said Mayor Lucas. “While our crews are working hard each and every day to keep our community clean, I encourage Kansas Citians to report high litter areas and illegal dumping sites to 311 and to join us for one of the many community cleanup opportunities coming up this spring.”
“We already have great programs supported by our Solid Waste team to address things like illegal dumping, bulky item pickup collection, neighborhood cleanups, and of course the core services of weekly trash and recycling pickup and the semiannual leaf and brush pickup that actually starts next week for the south region,” said Director Shaw. “It’s an exciting time in Public Works where we have the opportunity to add more resources to cleaning up KCMO and continue to improve our basic services.”
“We have 319 square miles of city to keep clean, and that takes a steady commitment of city staff and resources,” said Manager Platt. “And we invite our residents to take pride in their city as well, by reducing litter and volunteering with neighborhood cleanups. And when you see illegal dumping, report it to 311.”
“The month of April marks Missouri’s annual No MOre Trash! Bash coordinated by the Missouri Department of Transportation,” said Missouri Department of Transportation Engineer Dave Silvester. “During the annual statewide litter-prevention event, volunteers are encouraged to clean up litter adjacent to highways to help beautify Missouri. Last year, MoDOT spent $6.4 million to remove litter from more than 385,000 acres of roadsides along 34,000 state highway miles. Every effort by the public to eliminate or clean up litter helps offset trash removal costs and allows the department to put more money back into maintaining Missouri’s roads and bridges. We encourage our Adopt-A-Highway volunteers to do their section pickups, but we also invite anyone from the community who wants to help to join in for a one-time pickup and call us at 888-ASK-MODOT.”
Kansas City government, led by the Kansas City Parks and Recreation Department, will host Earth Week community cleanup events April 22-24. Individuals and businesses interested in volunteering can sign up here .
For a list of clean-up opportunities in Kansas City, click here. Events coming up include:
- Marlborough Park Cleanup: Saturday from 9 a.m.-1 p.m.
- Missouri Annual No MOre Trash! Bash: Thursday, April 1.
- Spring Dumpster Day at Hyde Park: Saturday, April 6 from 8 a.m.-12 p.m.
- KC Parks Spring Cleaning Events: April 22-24
Kansas Citians are also encouraged to report litter and instances of illegal dumping by calling 311 or through the new myKCMO app, available for free download to your phone or tablet through the Apple app store and Google play.