Fort Worth city staff say businesses could face fines and possible arrests if they don’t clean up a problem that costs taxpayers around $1.2 million every year.
Litter has been an issue on Fort Worth streets and officials don’t think citizens are necessarily the culprits.
“The vast majority of litter that ends up on highways and major streets is actually coming from trash containers, not from vehicles,” Code Compliance Director Brandon Bennett said.
Code Compliance conducted a “Litter Audit” and noticed trashcans and dumpsters causing major issues.
“They are not bagging their garbage or they are only halfway bagging it. They are throwing it into an overfilled container or they are putting it into a container and they are not closing the lid,” Bennett said. “All of that equals a litter problem which equals a blight problem.”
Code compliance officers are now going business-to-business issuing warnings.
“We are giving them some education and we are making them aware that if we have to come back, it’s not going to be a second education trip,” Bennett said. “We are going to have to write some citations.”
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Bennett said those citations could lead to fines ranging from $500 - $2,000 and criminal citations that could lead to arrests.
Every month Fort Worth workers pick up around 34 tons of litter from around the city.
