Keep the Midlands Beautiful conducted an audit in January on the amount of litter seen across Lexington and Richland County roadways.

A four-point scale, provided by Keep America Beautiful, is used to evaluate the amount of litter visually seen. 

1 represents no litter or one or two pieces in a space, 2 represents slightly littered items that can be cleaned in a short period of time. 3 represents litter that captures the eyes of individuals regularly and effort needed to clean up.

Lastly, 4 represents a continuous amount of litter that may include an illegal dumpsite. In the 4 point scale category, equipment may be required to clean up.

The total average in Lexington County for the 2025 audit was 1.70. This has increased throughout the years as in 2022, the average was 1.61, according to a release from Keep the Midlands Beautiful.

For Richland County, the average total was 1.63, a decrease from 2022 where the total average was 1.97.

The combined average for both counties in the 2025 audit was 1.66, a slight increase from 2024 where the average was reported to be 1.59.

This audit is usually conducted in June, however in 2025, Keep the Midlands Beautiful changed it to January where more litter was visible and grass was low.

“Keep the Midlands Beautiful, a nonprofit organization established in 1989, is an affiliate of Keep America Beautiful and PalmettoPride serving both Lexington and Richland counties,” according to the release. “Our mission is to educate, inspire, and empower citizens to improve the places where they live, work, and play through litter prevention, recycling, and beautification. We manage eight litter prevention programs, including the Adopt-A-Highway program, and three recycling programs, we provide environmental education, and we coordinate at least one large-scale beautification project each year. We are a small organization making a big difference in the community with the help of over 6,000 dedicated volunteers each year.”