Knox County Tennessee

Solid Waste

Litter, Illegal Dumping, and Adopt-a-Road

Knox County Solid Waste manages a county-wide litter removal program. A combination of Knox County employees, community volunteers, and non-violent offenders respond to litter complaints and clean up roadside litter and roadside dumps on a daily basis. Without litter reports from citizens roads may not be visited for litter removal. In addition to picking up roadside litter the County also partners with civic groups willing to adopt roads on a sustained basis. The litter program receives grant funding from the State of Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT). A portion of the yearly grant funding must be spent on litter education. Below is more information on the litter grant programs and its activities.

REQUESTING LITTER AND ROADSIDE DUMP CLEANUPS:

Knox County Roads

If you know of littered Knox County roads, roadside dumps, or wish to report dumping activity please report them to our office. Please report roadside litter and dumps using the tools below. The online form goes directly to the litter crew leaders and to solid waste staff members.

  • To report littered Knox County roads or roadside dumps.
  • You may also call the Solid Waste Office at 215-5865 (ext. 0) and leave a detailed message. Please speak slowly and leave a call back number in case we need to contact you or if we cannot locate the litter or dumps reported.
  • If you witness dumping while it happens or if you see someone littering, call the Knox County Sherriff’s office because it is a crime. You will need a complete description of the incident that may include a description of the individual, the vehicle make, model and color, tag number, location and time of day.

State of Tennessee Roads/Highways (Emory, Norris, Clinton, Chapman, etc.)

  • You can call the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) Region 1 Office which responds to litter complaints for Knox County and surrounding areas of East Tennessee at 865-594-2718
  • If you witness someone littering from their vehicle please report vehicular litter crime to the Tennessee Department of Transportation using litter hotline and the offender will receive a warning citation that they were caught littering and an educational packet about littering will mailed to them.
  • State of Tennessee Litter Hotline Online Form: https://www.tn.gov/tdot/environmental-home/environmental-highway-beautification-office/litter.html
  • State of Tennessee Online Litter Hotline: 1-877-8-LITTER (1-877-8-548837).

ADOPT-A-ROAD PROGRAM:

The Knox County Adopt-A-Road program is now managed by Keep Knoxville Beautiful. Groups requesting supplies, reporting cleanup activity, or groups interested in adopting an eligible road should follow the link below or call 865-521-6957.

Keep Knoxville Beautiful (The link below will take you away from the Knox County Website)

http://www.keepknoxvillebeautiful.org/adoptaroad

LITTER EDUCATION PROGRAM:

A local nonprofit, Keep Knoxville Beautiful, is contracted to provide litter education to five target groups in Knox County. The five target groups are local businesses, media outlets, Knox County citizens, students and government workers. Click here for more information about our Litter Education Contractor and to find out how you can be more involved in litter education and prevention.