Mike Cook Environmental Outreach

Program Supervisor

Litter Grant Program Tennessee Department of Transportation

Laura Williams Environmental Program

Outreach Coordinator

• In 1981, the Soft Drink and Malt Beverage Industries lobbied to establish a tax on their products to help fund litter prevention.

• TDOT began issuing Litter Grants in 1983.

• The Litter Grant is responsible for removing an average of 11,800 tons of litter each year.

• TDOT provides Litter Grant Funds to all 95 counties based on a formula of road miles and population.

Litter Grant Program

Environmental Impact

Educational Impact

Economic Impact

Three Components of the Litter Grant Program

There are 94,768 miles of roadway in Tennessee; TDOT controls 13,898 of those miles.

TDOT is spending approximately $15 million annually on litter cleanup and litter prevention efforts.

The TDOT Litter Grant Program provides funds to counties across the state in order to subsidize litter collection efforts on non-state maintained roads.

In FY 2015, TDOT awarded $4.5 million in grants to Tennessee counties.

Over half of Litter Grant funds were used to subsidize salaries and benefits for county

employees, lead school or community based education outreach, and for law enforcement overseeing inmate litter cleanup.

Litter Grant Economic Impact

Litter Grant Economic Impact

Our roads lead to the places you love!

Litter Grant Environmental Impact

FY 2015 Litter Grant Program Results: During FY 2016, $3,349,922 was spent on removing litter along county roads.

Over 400,000 miles of Tennessee roadways were cleaned. Over 4,000 illegal roadside dumps were removed. Over 20 million pounds of litter were collected. 6.3 million pounds of litter debris were recycled.

Litter Grant Environmental Impact

Support Waste-to-Energy initiatives Attend conferences, seminars, and trainings

Rent equipment to remove large items Pay disposal fees for items such as tires

Litter Grant Educational Impact

Litter Grant recipients are required to spend at least 20% of their grant funds on education, addressing at least 3 of the 5

target areas:

1. Student 2. Public/Community 3. Media 4. Business 5. Government

Mobile Environmental Education Lab

Stakeholders from Bristol, Greenville, Morristown, and Kingsport pooled their Litter Grant education funds to build the Mobile Environmental Education Lab.

Carter County Clean Teens

Mike Cook Environmental Outreach

Program Supervisor Mike.cook@tn.gov

615-253-9917

Laura Williams Environmental Program

Outreach Coordinator Laura.d.williams@tn.gov

615-523-3455

Thanks for listening! Please contact us if you would like to partner with TDOT’s

Highway Beautification Office.