Sound practice here involves a combination of custom and frequent evaluation of current activities to see if they are meeting the needs and goals of the municipal cleaning program. For example, the introduction into a downtown area of Western-style fast food restaurants that uses disposable plates and packaging may require an increase in sweeping as more packaging is thrown on the street. Poor, unpaved, marginal, or very hilly areas are seldom swept. Sound practice involves regularly scheduled debris and litter collection, even if sweeping is physically impossible. Sweeping service areas.
Street sweeping is the basic way streets, sidewalks and public areas are kept clean.
There are important equity issues in street sweeping, in terms of the amount of municipal resources that go to maintaining cleanliness in various areas. It is common for poor or marginal areas to receive reduced or inadequate service, or no service at all, while wealthier or tourist areas receive extensive service. This disparity occurs in all cities, but is exaggerated in cities in developing countries. A key element in a street sweeping program is the cleansing of public markets, which are a feature of commercial life in most parts of the world. Sound practice in public market sweeping includes not only collection of residues and leftover vegetables and foods, but the removal of food packaging, utensils, bones, peels, etc.