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The streets of Paris are getting dirtier and dirtier

undefined undefined 5 février 2025 undefined 08h30

The Editor

© Oliverouge 3 / Shutterstock

In 2021, a survey by Ifop revealed that 84% of Parisians thought their city was dirty. And it seems that four years later, things are still far from improving, as shown by the outcry from Diame, a garbage collector in the capital, whose videos have racked up hundreds of thousands of views on TikTok.

In 2023, over 9,000 fines were issued in the capital for incivilities, nearly 4,500 of which were simply related to littering, messes, public urination, and other discarded cigarette butts… There are more than 5 million rats in the city, which is two for every Parisian. Even worse, no less than 10 million cigarette butts are thrown on public spaces every day. So yes, Paris is a dirty city. Very dirty. And clearly, no effort is being made to change things. But when it comes to finding the culprits, several different opinions clash.


Anne Hidalgo, the devil herself

For many residents of the City of Light (of which we’re not so sure it deserves its nickname anymore), the one responsible for this catastrophic situation is quite clear: it’s our dear mayor. The trash cans…is bad with trash at the mercy of rodents, litter not picked up often enough, that's what the account #saccageparis preaches on X (formerly known as Twitter), which shares a ton of photos of the streets of the capital in a truly awful state.

However, these clichés should be taken with a grain of salt, as they are often published without any context. Antoine Guillou, deputy (PS) to the mayor of Paris responsible for the cleanliness of public spaces, reminds us that more than 7,000 agents are spread across different teams working day and night on the streets of the capital. The budget dedicated to this issue has also increased from 550 to 800 million between 2021 and today, showing the city hall's good intentions.


Parisians, the sole responsible parties

According to the city councilor, we should look elsewhere for the culprits behind this unpleasant situation. He believes that the incivilities of Parisians are at the root of this real plague. This theory is supported by Diame, known as "the life of garbage collectors" on social media.

TikTok, which readily blames the locals, as well as tourists and temporary workers, whose behavior often comes dangerously close to disrespect.
@75.d.cisse #😁 #😁😁😁 #france🇫🇷 #paris ♬ Zimbabwe - Bob Marley & The Wailers

Packaging left in front of the empty bins, hundreds of cigarette butts tossed on the ground (even though a trash can is located less than 3 meters away), bottles abandoned on windowsills, little bits of vomit on the sidewalk after a night out. On their account, the examples are piling up, and honestly, we’re quite tempted to believe that it’s indeed us who are solely responsible for this surrounding filth.


A situation on the verge of improvement

However, it seems that Parisians are fairly motivated to change their behaviors and make things better. According to various studies conducted recently, there has been a significant decrease in fines for incivilities, from 88,052 to 61,204 in 2024, which is a 30% reduction. In the m& .The reports for lack of cleanliness on public roads recorded on In my street have decreased from 820,000 in 2023 to 690,000 last year.

A measurable improvement, since if 300,000 tons of litter are still being picked up every year in the streets of Paris, there were 20% fewer in 2024 than in 2023. This positive change is something the City Hall is determined to maintain, for example, by training over 25,000 students in selective sorting each year, or developing food waste recovery systems. Conclusion: if we all put in a little effort, by walking to the bin and aiming for it, not beside it, we might just achieve something good.