Litter Grant Program

Since 1981, funding collected from Tennessee’s Soft Drink and Malt Beverage industries have been put to work by TDOT towards programs that reduce the number of items on roadsides and prevent littering behavior in communities across the state. In 1983, TDOT issued the first “Litter Grants” to county governments. These grants established pickup programs and provided litter prevention and recycling education at the local level. Today, Litter Grants improve communities in all 95 Tennessee counties and directly touch thousands of Tennesseans each year through volunteerism and educational programming.  

TDOT's Litter Grant program is innovative and a nationally acclaimed, award winning best practice. Read an overview memo about TDOT’s Litter Grant funding model and programming.

The Litter Grant program, in addition to other programs such as Adopt-A-Highway, the Litter Hotline, Keep Tennessee Beautiful, and the Nobody Trashes Tennessee campaign, help TDOT to build partnerships and provide a comprehensive, impactful solution to help keep Tennessee clean and green. 

See Litter? Report a needed cleanup to TDOT.

Performance metrics and program summaries are reported annually, each March 31^st, in the Litter Grant Annual Report linked below. 

Litter Grant Resources

2024 Litter Grant Annual Report (PDF)

2024 Training Resources for Financial Training (in person) and Education Training (virtual)

2023 Litter Grant Memo and Infographic (PDF)

2022 Litter Grant Training Manual (PDF) - To Be Updated Summer 2024

Nobody Trashes Tennessee Brand Guidelines (updated February 2024)