Representatives from councils and businesses across Northern Ireland, and speakers from as far as the USA gathered in Craigavon Civic Centre on Thursday 11^th November 2010 to attend the second Northern Ireland Litter Summit organised by TIDY Northern Ireland.

At the summit delegates were able to discuss how to tackle our environmental crime crisis with some of the most experienced specialists from Texas, England and here in Northern Ireland.

The keynote speaker from the Texas Department of Transportation, highlighted the phenomenally successful "Don't Mess With Texas" litter reduction campaign, which has run for nearly 25 years and has paid for itself by reducing litter by 72%.

With street cleansing costing Northern Ireland's ratepayers roughly £100,000 day in 2009, the scale of the task was not lost on the John McMillen, Head of the Northern Ireland Environment Agency who gave the opening address and said "let us not underestimate the scale of the problem - it is absolutely scandalous that in an area the size of Northern Ireland our district councils are spending approximately 30 million pounds a year on street cleansing".

Ian Humphreys, Chief Executive of TIDY Northern Ireland said that "If when we wake up in the morning we look out at fly-posting, or wade through litter on the way to work, or slip on dog fouling, it doesn't leave us feeling great about ourselves or the places where we live. Imagine then how tourists or companies wanting to invest here must feel. Yet by taking our litter home or using the bins provided Northern Ireland could be so different. This Litter Summit aims to help change all our behaviour so we can once again be proud of our beautiful countryside, coast, towns and cities."

Other speakers discussed tactics for prevention, enforcement and remediation of environmental crime. Efficiency was one of the themes of the day, with councils trying to find new ways to maintain standards in the face of deep spending cuts. With changes to legislation on antisocial behaviour in Northern Ireland, the conference gave local operators the opportunity to debate with experienced operators from England, who were showcasing the methods they have evolved through five years of similar legislation. 24 of the 26 councils in Northern Ireland had representatives at the Summit, as well as the NIEA, PSNI, Tourist Board, Department for Regional Development and local businesses. The NIEA and Craigavon Borough Council sponsored the event.