Community Corner

PennDOT Earns 'Partner Award' for Anti-Litter Efforts

For the ninth consecutive year, PennDOT was presented with the national Partner Award for its support of litter-cleanup programs.

More than 141,000 volunteers cleaned 13,589 miles of roads, trails and shorelines during the Great American Cleanup of Pennsylvania.

From March 1 to May 31, there were 4,421 reported cleanup events statewide, and a whopping 6.7 million total pounds of trash was collected from Pennsylvania roadways, school yards, railroad tracks, trails, waterways, shorelines, as well as parks and wetlands.

According to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, its Adopt-A-Highway program accounted for 3.6 million of the total pounds of trash collected during the cleanup.

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For its participation -- and for the ninth consecutive year -- PennDOT has been presented with the national Partner Award, which recognizes states for support of litter-cleanup programs and emphasizes the importance of anti-litter programs through public and private partnerships, according to a press release.

“Keeping Pennsylvania beautiful is so important to our citizens and our communities, and that is obvious by the number of volunteers who get involved," said PennDOT Secretary Barry J. Schoch. “It’s a great cause that reduces roadside litter and illegal dumping, while reducing costs to do so.”

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Started in 1990, PennDOT’s Adopt-A-Highway Program currently has 7,028 participating groups, more than 130,000 volunteers, and 16,177 miles of adopted state-maintained roadways.

The program solicits volunteers to clear litter on a two-mile section of state highway, four times a year. In addition to benefitting the environment, the effort helps to reduce PennDOT maintenance costs, according to the press release.


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