The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 4 plus 2 plus 3 plus 6 letter word PICK UP THE PIECES
I've seen this crossword clue in The Daily Telegraph
P
I
C
K
U
P
T
H
E
P
I
E
C
E
S
More clues leading to the result PICK UP THE PIECES
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "What one must do with litter/redeem a bad situation" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case what one must do with litter/redeem a bad situation = pick up the pieces.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.