Litter emergency looms closer as 9 in 10 people agree it is a problem

Litter levels highlight scale of our selfish behaviour

At a national seminar on Scotland’s local environmental quality environmental charity, Keep Scotland Beautiful revealed data from its national surveys which further warn of a looming litter emergency.

• 88% of people agree litter is a problem across Scotland.
• More than two PPE litter items per 1km surveyed.
• Five out of six sites surveyed are littered.
• 1 in 10 sites had unacceptable litter levels.
• Smoking related litter is the most commonly observed – present at 64% of sites.
• More than half surveyed sites were littered with food and drink items.

Cigarettes, food-on-the-go litter and drinks related litter top the tables once again, but the pandemic has highlighted a new litter type – masks which have never featured in previous years. 

The scale of the challenge Scotland faces as we collectively act to tackle the behaviours that are leading to a looming litter emergency is not to be underestimated. 

Despite last year being an exceptional one, where data cannot really be compared with our historic trends, and when cleansing services were under extreme pressure, the stats taken from almost 11,000 surveyed sites speak for themselves. 

It is clear that litter levels and the littering behaviours highlighted in our report – Time for a new approach to tackling litter last year, need urgent attention.

Mairi McAllan, Minister for Environment, Biodiversity and Land Reform gave the key note address at Scotland’s Local Environmental Quality Seminar, at which the data was shared with key stakeholders and partners. 

The event has kickstarted a programme of online events focusing on the key strands of the proposed new National Litter and Flytipping Strategy which will go out for consultation this winter.

Barry Fisher, CEO of Keep Scotland Beautiful said, “There is no doubt that the COVID-19 pandemic has brought new challenges for those who work hard to keep our country litter free. 

“And, it is clear, that for many, the impact that litter, dog fouling and graffiti, has on their communities and neighbourhoods is unacceptable, particularly in our most deprived communities.

“Our latest survey results again highlight that where there are people in large numbers, there are unacceptable levels of litter.  While no one organisation can solve this issue, individually we can all take responsibility and bin our litter or take it home and treat our country with respect.

“Alongside The Scottish Government and Zero Waste Scotland we are committed to continuing efforts to support communities, local authorities, businesses, and national agencies to reverse the decline in environmental quality across Scotland.

“We must now build on the collaborative work we have started over the past 18months, to eradicate the selfish behaviours that impact our neighbourhoods and the places we visit.

“We’re calling for everyone in Scotland to join us on our collective mission to make all of Scotland beautiful again”

Despite the continuing increase in litter levels there is a clear, collective ambition to tackle litter and we are working with others to ensure that the positive action, carried out by volunteers who pledged 1.5million minutes to litter pick during our Summer Clean this June, and positive momentum of the national ‘Scotland is Stunning’ litter campaign really makes a difference.  

Everyone needs to step up to the challenge.  Litter should be one of the easiest environmental problems to solve – everyone is able to bin their litter or take it home.