I also thought there was tons of rubbish on the streets in the UK, but nowadays when I got home to visit my parents in the suburbs of NYC, there is so much trash on the side of the parkway, I am always stunned.
In my neighbourhood in Manchester, we don't have rubbish on the streets, if you put even one single bag that makes the top of your grey bin open, they will take it out and leave it for you with a warning sticker. We have 4 bins. 4 bins...its great, but 4 bins take up a lot of room, and to be honest, the food waste recycling bin is putrid most weeks.