PennDOT Secretary Barry J. Schoch Thursday lauded the efforts of the more than 141,000 volunteers who cleaned 13,589 miles of roads, trails and shorelines in this year’s Great American Cleanup of Pennsylvania, which lasted from March 1 through May 31.

“The department is very thankful for the thousands of people who turned out this year to beautify Pennsylvania,” Schoch said. “Pennsylvania is fortunate to have so many people who want to keep this state beautiful and combat the actions of litter bugs out there.”

There were 4,421 reported cleanup events statewide. Volunteers in PennDOT’s Adopt-A-Highway program accounted for 3.6 million of the 6.7 million total pounds of trash collected during the cleanup. The 77,786 participating Adopt-A-Highway volunteers cleaned 10,961 of the total roadway miles.

According to Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful, PennDOT’s partner in the cleanup effort, the effort has yielded 25.9 million pounds of collected litter and cleaned 44,030 miles of roadway with the help of 487,673 volunteers over the past three years.

PennDOT requires that Adopt-A-Highway volunteers complete four cleanups per year, and the groups were encouraged to join in the cleanup effort. The 7,000 groups in the Adopt-A-Highway program have two-year commitments and have adopted 16,110 roadway miles. In 2011, PennDOT spent more than $10.6 million for litter pickup with department staff.

PennDOT provides gloves, trash bags and safety vests for Adopt-A-Highway and Great American Cleanup of Pennsylvania groups. Supplies were also provided by Keep America Beautiful and the Department of Environmental Protection.

The Great American Cleanup of Pennsylvania is in partnership with PennDOT, DEP, Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful, the Pennsylvania Waste Industries Association, the Pennsylvania Food Merchants Association and the Pennsylvania Beverage Association.

For more information on the cleanup, visit the Great American Cleanup of PA website.

9/24/2012