Author(s)

M. Zamorano

Abstract

Street cleaning is an important facet of any solid waste management system, and is directly related to public education and behaviour. Litter deposited on the streets creates a negative visual impact, particularly on visitors. This indirectly affects the economy and human health of the city. Unfortunately, very little information is available in the literature on methods to quantify street cleanliness. The Federación Española de Municipios y Provincias (Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces) has defined an index to evaluate the quality of the street cleaning operations in its Guía Técnica para la Gestión de Residuos Municipales y Limpieza Viaria (Technical Guide for Municipal Waste Management and Street Cleaning). The Cleanliness Index varies in proportion to the amount of litter on the street, but it is also related to the type of pavement, climate conditions, and vehicle parking mode. This Cleanliness Index was used to evaluate the dirtiness of a street in the city centre of Granada over an eight-day period, at different times. This evaluation also took into account the activities of the street population as well as manual sweeping practices. Since high levels of cleanliness were detected in this street during the day, it was concluded that the organization of manual sweepers is an important part of an effective system, and depends on the frequency of sweeping. However, after the last sweeping event, the dirtiness level increased considerably. Climate conditions during the study increased the number people on the street at the end of the day, which resulted in a higher value of the Cleanliness Index. Keywords: street cleaning, litter, cleanliness level, Cleanliness Index. 1 Introduction Urban surfaces receive waste deposits from natural and human sources. These sources include green urban areas and parks, vehicle traffic, industries, waste

Keywords

street cleaning, litter, cleanliness level, Cleanliness Index