INTRODUCTION
The sweeping of streets is such a simple and humble occupation that it rarely attracts technical interest of the managers responsible for such activities.
However, many cities spend between 30 to 50 percent of their solid waste budgets on street cleansing. It is a service for which a wide variety of tools, equipment and methods, both manual and mechanical, are available, and it is one in which there is often great scope for financial saving by the introduction of more efficient methods.This is an area in which public relations are very important. Much of the work arises directly from shortcomings in public behaviour, such as throwing litter on the streets and open spaces.
In some cities, however, a high proportion of street wastes arise from deficiencies in the refuse collection service as a result of which residents dispose of domestic and shop-wastes in the streets. The cost of removing wastes which have been scattered on the streets is very much higher than the cost of collecting similar wastes which have been placed in containers such as domestic wastes bins or litter containers.
Thus street cleansing policies should have the following objectives:
· the provision of services for the collection of wastes from source, i.e., efficient refuse collection,
· reduction of street litter by public education and awareness,
· the use of systems which achieve high labour productivity,
· the design and use of effective tools and equipment.
