Keep Scotland Beautiful – Page 6 – The NEN

Carrier bag charge to double

The minimum price of a single use carrier bag is set to increase from 5p to 10p. The Scottish Parliament will be asked to approve the increase from the 1 April.

The carrier bag charge was first introduced in Scotland in October 2014. Prior to the charge, 800 million single use carrier bags were issued annually in Scotland.

By 2015 this fell by 80% with the Marine Conservation Society noting in 2016 that the number of plastic carrier bags being found on Scotland’s beaches dropped by 40% two years in a row with a further drop of 42% recorded between 2018 and 2019.

Additional measures to reduce single use plastic consumption include the banning of the sale of plastic stemmed cotton buds, with further steps to ban a number of single use items recently being consulted on.

Environment and Climate Change Secretary Roseanna Cunningham said: “Thanks to the people of Scotland, the introduction of the charge has been successful in reducing the amount of single-use carrier bags in circulation. It has also made us think about the small steps we can all take to help the environment.

“While the 5p bag charge was suitable when it was first introduced, it is important that pricing is updated to ensure that the charge continues to be a factor in making people think twice about using a single-use carrier bag.

“The Scottish Government is committed to building back a greener society so by further reducing our reliance on single use items, we are taking positive steps to limit our impact on the climate and the environment.”

Chief Executive of Keep Scotland Beautiful Barry Fisher said: “Fewer single use carrier bags is great news for our environment. Since 2014 the single use carrier bag charge has significantly helped reduce the number of bags being given out by retailers – saving thousands of tonnes of single use plastic realising a significant net carbon saving and reducing the chances of these items becoming littered.

“However, there is still an opportunity to challenge individual behaviours and improve consumer awareness which the doubling of the charge will help do.

“We’ve been fortunate to develop positive partnerships with a range of well-known high street retailers, and a number of small individual store owners, who understand their responsibilities in helping to tackle Scotland’s environmental issues.

“The donations of their customer’s bag charge money have supported us to combat climate change, tackle litter and waste, and protect and enhance the places we care about.”

Community Climate Asset funding for Edinburgh organisations

Delivering Scotland’s green recovery

Communities across the country are to benefit from fast-tracked funding to help tackle climate change and deliver Scotland’s green recovery from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

A total of 279 projects will be funded through the Community Climate Asset Fund, helping to deliver electric bikes, food growing equipment and glazing to improve energy efficiency.

Successful recipients of the Fund based in the capital include Freh Start, Stockbridge Parish Church, ELREC and Granton Parish Church.

Climate Change Secretary Roseanna Cunningham said: “Communities across the country are playing a vital role in responding to the pandemic crisis and in maintaining our resilience, our sense of spirit and our local support network.

“In what remains an exceptionally difficult time for us all, this funding is providing fast, tangible support to deliver long-lasting benefits to community based organisations while also helping them tackle climate change as we accelerate our just transition to a net zero society.

“I am particularly pleased that the successful recipients of the Community Climate Asset Fund come from right across the country, meaning many thousands of people will benefit from the projects and help play their part in ending Scotland’s contribution to climate change.”

Chief Executive Officer of Keep Scotland Beautiful Barry Fisher said: “We congratulate all the community-based organisations across Scotland awarded Community Climate Asset Fund grants.

“Keep Scotland Beautiful are committed to making Scotland clean, green and sustainable, and through the Community Climate Asset Fund, we are delighted to support communities to tackle climate change and contribute to a green and just recovery from COVID-19.”

A total of 279 organisations are being funded through the Community Climate Asset Fund. Edinburgh projects to receive funding are:

Action Porty. For community building energy efficiency improvements. £3,777.60.

Blood Bikes Scotland. For an electric motorcycle and charging station to help to reduce carbon emissions within the Lothian region by transporting urgent items for the NHS more sustainably. £24,896.70

Craigmillar Now. For community building energy efficiency improvements. £9,770.00.

Edinburgh and Lothians Regional Equality Council. For an electric vehicle to help the BAME communities of Edinburgh to reduce local carbon emissions by empowering their club users to drive more sustainably. £12,150.00

Edinburgh Community Food. For an electric van and charging point to help reduce carbon emissions in Edinburgh by delivering food parcels to families and local community organisations more sustainably. £28,607.16

Edinburgh Hindu Mandir and Cultural Centre. For insulation and low-energy lighting to help the Hindu community of Edinburgh to reduce local carbon emissions by making the community hall more energy efficient. £24,660.00

Edinburgh Napier Students’ Association. For food growing equipment. £2,660.00.

Fresh Start. For an electric van to help reduce carbon emissions in Edinburgh by distributing donations and running their PAT testing service more sustainably. £13,986.00

Friends of Seaview. For food growing and food waste equipment. £2,036.32.

Inverleith Allotments Association. For garden waste reduction equipment. £3,474.00.

Stockbridge Parish Church. For community building energy efficiency improvements. £3,790.80.

Swap and Re-use Hub Co-operative (Edinburgh) Ltd. For an electric cargo bike, fridge and freezer to help the Food Sharing Edinburgh Network to reduce local carbon emissions by reducing emissions for collections and deliveries and diverting more surplus food from landfill. £7,703.00.

The Broomhouse Centre. For an electric van to help communities in South West Edinburgh to reduce carbon emissions by distributing food donations, other deliveries, and activities more sustainably. £18,601.92

The Edinburgh Remakery Ltd. For textile repair equipment as part of the Covid-19 response. £1,000.00.

The Friends of Duddingston Charitable Trust. For food growing equipment. £2,956.83.

The Welcoming Association. For food growing and food waste equipment. £3,100.00.

Water of Leith Conservation Trust. For an electric cargo bike and community building energy efficiency improvements. £4,496.78.

Unmasking a looming litter emergency

Keep Scotland Beautiful: make Scotland ‘litter-ate’

Environmental charity, Keep Scotland Beautiful, has published a new report on Scotland’s local environmental quality highlighting an avalanche of evidence from its audits from the past two decades which points to a looming litter emergency – hidden in plain sight.

The charity is calling for eight urgent actions to make Scotland ‘litter-ate’ and is urging key stakeholders and communities to join efforts to change the way we behave to tackle unacceptable levels of litter, dog fouling, graffiti, weeds and detritus.

The report ‘Time for a new approach to tackling litter‘ highlights an accelerating decline in standards from 2013 to 2020 – with only 16% of audited sites being recorded as litter free last year compared to 31% in 2013, and dog fouling now found on 3% more streets that in 2013. In addition, results also showed a more marked decline in Scotland’s poorest neighbourhoods.

Local environmental quality standards in Scotland were already in decline before the pandemic, now nine months on, as we rely on good quality neighbourhoods for our health and wellbeing, our polling has highlighted that 30% of people believe the overall condition of their local neighbourhood deteriorated during lockdown.

Yet, despite the impact of this ‘lockdown effect’, where people have noticed an increase in the severity and prevalence of poor environmental quality, improved connections have been made with the environment and local neighbourhoods.

And, positively, Keep Scotland Beautiful has come together with others to tackle the rise in flytipping, dog fouling and littering during a challenging year. Building on this as we enter a new year is key to tackling the behaviours behind the looming litter emergency.

This is why the charity has outlined an eight-point cross sector agenda for change to tackle the complex interlinking problems leading to the decline. This includes calls for an: education and behaviour change programme to create a Scotland that is truly litter-ate; a review of the failing model of enforcement; and further collaboration to bring together a reinvigorated Scottish network working together to jointly reverse the decline.

Barry Fisher, CEO of Keep Scotland Beautiful said, “The increasingly visible new litter type – the single use face mask – has become a symbol of our disregard for Scotland and our fellow citizens.

“The simple truth is that we need to all start questioning our own habits – what we consume, what we throw away, and how we look after our local neighbourhoods – and we need to address the looming litter emergency head on by changing our own behaviours and working together with key partners, to build on the successes of this year.

“We must respect and look after the places that we love if we are to have any hope of solving the global climate and nature crises. Tackling the first can help the latter. We need you to join us to make our communities, businesses and individuals truly litter-ate.”

Iain Gulland, chief executive of Zero Waste Scotland, said: “Our relentless consumption of materials is Scotland’s biggest contributor to the climate crisis. The extraction, manufacture and transport of materials is a huge source of carbon emissions and something we could affect by reducing our demand for single-use items.

“It is particularly upsetting that people continue to pollute our streets, parks, streams and rivers, where they continue to cause damage for months and years to come. This needs to stop and we will continue to work with Keep Scotland Beautiful and other partners to find solutions to these issues.”

Keep Scotland Beautiful is committed to continuing efforts to support communities, local authorities, businesses, and national agencies to reverse the decline in environmental quality across Scotland – from rural to urban settings – but your support is needed.

The time to act is now. Scotland is beautiful, and we must all commit to do more to protect and enhance the places we care for.

leq-2020-report-final-041220 Download

Choose to Reuse: Upcycle old fabric to fight litter blight

Reusable face covering workshop from Zero Waste Scotland

Scots are being urged to ‘choose to reuse’ to protect our beautiful landscape from littered face coverings.

In the next phase of its campaign Face It – Reuse Beats Single-use, which aims to persuade Scots to choose reusable face coverings over disposable ones, Zero Waste Scotland is laying on a virtual workshop to show the nation how to make their own.

The environment body has teamed up with Keep Scotland Beautiful and the Marine Conservation Society to persuade Scots to choose reusable face coverings to protect our environment and is calling on those keen to be more conscious in their choice of protective wear to sign up for this free event.

Supported by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) the virtual workshop will take place on Friday 11 December.

It will see upcycling expert Rose Hall of Edinburgh-based charity EcoArt lead participants through a series of simple steps to create a bespoke face covering from old or unwanted fabric most of us will have at home – from an old shirt or pillowcase to a pair of pyjamas.

Hosted by Zero Waste Scotland’s consumer waste prevention project manager, Miriam Adcock, the tutorial will also feature opportunities for questions and chat on how to be more sustainable at home – including some ideas for less-waste Christmas gifts.

Miriam (above) said: “Sadly, littered single-use face coverings are among the items increasingly being seen discarded on Scotland’s beaches, in parks and in urban areas. In fact, recent data from the Marine Conservation Society showed Covid-related litter like face coverings and gloves turned up on nearly a quarter of Scotland’s beaches.

“What’s more, used disposable coverings have been found contaminating council recycling collections – costing money to deal with that could be better spent on other priorities and potentially resulting in recyclable material ending up in landfill.

“There’s a simple solution to all of this. Choosing a reusable face covering is better for both purse and planet, with fabric face covering users estimated to save around £180 a year compared to those using disposable options for daily use.

“They’re also really easy and fun to make – and I would encourage anyone interested to sign up to our workshop and have a go.”

Among those getting behind reusable face coverings are children from Langlees Primary School in Falkirk. Pupils in primary six have designed reusable coverings made from the school’s purple tartan to be sold in aid of local charity Langlees Food Provision.

Victoria Smith, primary six class teacher at Langlees, said: “The children are so passionate about this campaign and they have been involved in all aspects of planning from ordering the material, calculating costs, designing the poster to writing the script for the advert.

“As a school we are working towards gaining our Gold Rights Respecting School Award after receiving our Silver award earlier this year. By choosing a food provision charity we are including the global goal of poverty as well as climate change.

“I am so proud of all the children’s hard work and their commitment to this cause.”

Zero Waste Scotland’s reusable face covering workshop with EcoArt will take place online on Friday 11 December from 2 to 2.30pm. To find out more or to sign up for the event, visit https://zws.scot/facecoveringworkshop .

Zero Waste Scotland leads on the delivery of the Resource Efficient Circular Economy Accelerator Programme, which will invest £27million in Scotland in circular economy projects until December 2020 thanks to support from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

20,000 tonnes of single use face masks will be dumped in landfill by March

The amount of single use face masks that cannot be recycled in the UK will hit 6.3 billion in the 4 months to March weighing an incredible 20,000 tonnes – leading to claims that the laws on throw away masks need changing to prevent an environmental disaster.

“6.3 billion face masks is the amount the UK will throw in the bin in just 4 months – if the rules on mask wearing continue throughout 2021, this could top 19.2 billion – the numbers are absolutely mind blowing”, explains Charlotte Green from National recycling company TradeWaste.co.uk

The eyewatering number of non-recyclable single use face masks being thrown away in the UK:

53m a day are sent to landfill
This is 742 million a week
Or 1.6 billion a month
So, 6.3 billion will be binned in the 4 months to March
This will weigh 20,000 tonnes in total
In one year, we will use 19.2 billion which weighs as much as 5 1/2 Eiffel Towers

The main problem with disposable face masks is that currently as they are formed from heated and pressed plastics, they cannot easily be recycled. So, the only place they can end up will be in the ground.

“When you put your face mask in the bin, it will most likely end up in landfill. However, it gets even worse if the face mask is either deliberately or accidentally dropped – they are blown around and end up in watercourses, rivers and eventually the ocean. This impact can have awful consequences if wildlife comes entangled in the fibres, or ear loops”, explains Green.

Disposable face masks are typically made from plastic in 3 layers with a metal strip and ear loops:

Non-woven plastic fabric outer
Melt-blown polymer filter such as polypropylene
Non-woven plastic fabric inner
Other – cotton ear loops and metal nose piece

What can we do to prevent environmental harm caused by disposable face masks?

The main thing to remember is that if we choose an alternative before buying a disposable mask then we have prevented the manufacture of that mask and therefore halted much of the potential environmental harm.

TradeWaste.co.uk recommends the following alternatives:

Buy a washable face mask made from either recycled materials or washable cotton
Use a paper facemask that can be recycled – these are becoming more widely available
Use a recycling service which accepts disposable face masks made from plastic, such as dust masks, FFP2 (or so-called “N95”), FFP3 and surgical masks

“If you can use a mask where there are no parts to throw away, then you are doing your bit to prevent excess plastic from going to landfill, and in the worst case being blown into local rivers and streams”, concludes Charlotte Green from recycling company TradeWaste.co.uk

“If you think in a year we will dump the equivalent of 5 1/2 Eiffel Towers in 3.5g face masks, you’ll see the scale of the problem we are facing at the moment”.

Local groups receive awards for Keeping Scotland Beautiful

The efforts of 14 Edinburgh groups have been acknowledged by environmental charity Keep Scotland Beautiful at an online seminar yesterday.

North Edinburgh is well represented among these green-fingered groups, with awards for Drylaw Neighbourhood Centre, Fresh Start Growers, Friends of Granton Castle Walled Garden, Friends of Lauriston Castle Estate, Friends of Starbank Park and North Edinburgh Arts Gardening Group.

The other capital groups to receive awards are Balerno Village Gardeners, Craigentinny Community Gardening Project, Craigentinny Primary Parent Council, Friends of Morningside Cemetery, Friends of Saughton Park, Inch View Care Home, Inspiring Hillside and Northfield Community Growing Group.

Annually Keep Scotland Beautiful runs two community environmental improvement programmes in partnership with the Royal Horticultural Society; the competitive Beautiful Scotland campaign and the It’s Your Neighbourhood initiative.

In total 197 groups, those who would in previous years have been out creating and maintaining community gardens or allotments, looking after habitats for wildlife and adopting streets, have been issued with Certificates of Recognition for the work volunteers and supporters did manage to carry out to brighten up and pull their neighbourhoods together during this year’s health pandemic.

A full list of the 14 groups from Edinburgh can be found in the attached table (below).

Edinburgh-groups Download

Faced with the challenges of 2020, there has never been a more important time to recognise and celebrate the achievements of communities and individuals across Edinburgh.

Throughout lockdown and the following months, groups have worked tirelessly to improve their communities through horticulture, environmental responsibility and working in partnership for the benefit of residents, visitors and our natural environment.

Despite circumstances this year, 47 new entrants were welcomed to the network, and although judging and mentoring visits were not able to take place due to restrictions across Scotland, groups were still supported with online seminars, networking events, question and answer sessions and a weekly e-newsletter.

Barry Fisher, CEO of Keep Scotland Beautiful said, “We know that lockdown resulted in many people reconnecting with green and blue spaces local to them. Yet, it has also been a particularly challenging year for the communities who strive every year to protect and enhance the places they live and work in.

“We have been amazed by the desire of communities, volunteers and local authorities to stay connected, motivated and inspired by each other, all with a steadfast determination to do things to make a difference, even if this had to be done differently this year.

“I’d like to thank all the groups in Edinburgh for the efforts they have made to keep Scotland beautiful this year.”

Although many of the groups had to stop or curtail their planned activities for the year, we have been blown away by what they have managed to achieve – whether that be setting up a food bank, encouraging and supporting others to grow their own, creating virtual garden tours, connecting their members through online catch ups and keeping their neighbourhoods bright and cheerful.

Andrea Van Sittart, RHS Head of Community Outreach said: “It’s truly inspiring that so many Scottish communities continued to support others in need this year.

“From a phone box larder in Muthill to planter kits for others in Inverkip, the groups have shown incredible creativity and ingenuity responding to the needs of their diverse communities through this challenging time. Congratulations to all groups on their amazing efforts.”

If you’d like to join the network in 2021, check out the website for inspiration and details on how to get involved:

www.keepscotlandbeautiful.org/BeautifulScotland or www.keepscotlandbeautiful.org/IYN

Voting opens to find the UK’s top ten parks

Scots urged to vote for their favourite Green Flag Award park

Scotland’s treasured green spaces are going to the polls, as the vote opens to choose the UK’s top award winning parks. The People’s Choice vote allows members of the public to have their say – selecting the parks that will be crowned the top ten in the country.

Following expert-led judging, Scotland has 77 parks this year with a Green Flag Award to choose from. These include spaces managed by community groups, universities and local authorities.

The voting is open from 30 October to 25 November with winners announced on 3 December. To vote for your favourite, simply find it on the map at www.greenflagaward.org and click on the vote button.

Last year, Strathaven Park in South Lanarkshire placed in the top ten for the sixth time in seven years and was awarded the accolade of “Scotland’s favorite park”. This year, parks stretching from the Western Isles to the Scottish Borders are all in with a chance.

Jamie Ormiston, Beaches and Parks Officer at Keep Scotland Beautiful said, “Living through a pandemic has made this year particularly challenging, and it has shown us the vital role our green spaces play to our health and wellbeing.

“The Green Flag Award acknowledges the hard work that goes on to keep these important greenspaces available for us to enjoy. We encourage everyone to vote for their favourite Green Flag Awarded park and we look forward to finding out the results later this year.”

A list of Scotland’s Green Flag Award parks is attached.

Park-list-2020 Download

Keep Scotland Beautiful calls for support to record scale of dog fouling problem

#TurdTag returns this Halloween

Environmental charity Keep Scotland Beautiful is once again looking for individuals and families to get involved with their popular Clean Up Scotland campaign.

#TurdTag will help establish how much of a problem dog poo is across Scotland and comes after Keep Scotland Beautiful data showed that 32% of people across Scotland think dog poo had got worse during lockdown.

Community support during #TurdTag in May showed an average of 12 dog poos every 100m and that bagged dog poo was 1.5 times more common than unbagged.

The return of #TurdTag during autumn will see if the darker, colder weather leads to more dog poo being left behind whilst also reminding owners to act responsibly and #BagIt and #BinIt even in the wintery months.

For two weeks, starting on 31 October, volunteers are being asked to identify a 100m stretch of local road, path or walk through a local greenspace and count, then submit information on, the number of dog poos (bagged and un-bagged) that they find.

Results should be emailed to cleanup@keepscotlandbeautiful.org by 20 November 2020 and can also be shared using social media and the hashtag #turdtag.

Heather McLaughlin, Campaigns Officer at Keep Scotland Beautiful said: “Following the success of our #TurdTag campaign earlier this year, we are really keen to encourage as many individuals and families as possible to get out to count dog poos for us again, so we can get a really good understanding of Scotland’s dog poo problem year round.

“We all know that dog poo on our streets and green spaces is a disgusting problem caused by a minority of thoughtless people, so the information we get will form a unique new data set which will be used to increase awareness and drive action to tackle one of Scotland’s worst environmental complaints.”

Portobello community embraces My Beach,Your Beach campaign

A summer of learning, celebrating and caring for Portobello Beach has come to a close, as environmental charity Keep Scotland Beautiful reports on its My Beach, Your Beach campaign.

Launched in mid-July, just as we were easing out of lockdown, the campaign aimed to help improve water quality at six of Scotland’s well-loved beaches through targeted interventions to encourage better attitudes and behaviours.

Now, as we look to the autumn and winter, it is heartening to see that despite 57% of people thinking dog poo is an issue and 35% believing litter is an issue at Portobello Beach, 66% of those surveyed in the area have said they are willing to pick up litter when visiting the beach to leave it cleaner than they found it.

The successful campaign raised awareness of the potential impact on bathing water quality by dog fouling and encouraging gulls by feeding and leaving litter.

The third year of the My Beach Your Beach campaign was a little bit different – extending it to two more great beaches, Irvine and Troon – and also taking community engagement online in the face of lockdown measures, to encourage those who live locally to get involved and celebrate their beach.

Campaign messaging appeared on the bins along the promenade, encouraging people to dispose of waste responsibly.

This was supported by anthe interactive online programme aiming to celebrate and engage people with their local beach, through information about local environment, landscape and heritage, quizzes, photo galleries and a virtual ‘Doggy Ambassador’ competition, reaching nearly 10,000 people.

Although impact monitoring was not possible this year, 90% of locals surveyed had seen at least one campaign message and 83% said that they would like to see more campaign activity like this in the future. Last year, the campaign achieved a 53% reduction in litter as compared to the previous year and a 40% reduction in dog poo too.

Paul Wallace, Campaigns and Innovation Manager at Keep Scotland Beautiful, said: “We know that, in many cases, people only need a small nudge to do the right thing and take better care of their local environment.

“This summer, our local neighbourhoods became even more precious to many of us. For those #LuckyToLiveHere by the beach, the unprecedented pressures of more people taking holidays and day trips in Scotland, consuming more single-use items and take-away food and using limited services, such as toilets and bins, were felt.

“We’re grateful to both council staff and members of local community groups like Keep Porty Tidy, Friends of Porty Prom and Portobello Timebank for working to keep the beach clean for everyone to enjoy and are delighted to find that, following following this summer’s campaign, over 60% of people from communities locally have shown an interest in picking up litter at Portobello beach when they visit, to leave it cleaner than they found it.

“Cleaner sands can lead to cleaner seas – a win, win for our beach environments and communities.”

Cllr Lesley Macinnes, city council Environment Convener, said: “Our beaches and other open spaces have been so important for people to enjoy in recent months as we’ve all had to adapt to the coronavirus restrictions.

“It’s really important then that we look after them and keep them clean and tidy for everyone to enjoy. This campaign has been really helpful in supporting the hard work of our waste services department getting across that message and celebrating Portobello.”

The campaign, funded by the Scottish Government and supported by SEPA, was led by Keep Scotland Beautiful alongside its Upstream Battle and Clean Up Scotland campaigns and annual Beach Awards.

All six of the beaches selected for this campaign have faced challenges in improving the quality of their bathing water as measured by SEPA, and research confirms a significant link between behaviour on the land and the cleanliness of the local seawater.

Find out more about Portobello Beach by visiting its campaign web page at www.keepscotlandbeautiful.org/mybeachyourbeach/

Western General group is local litter picking hub

As part of its commitment to supporting local communities to tackle local litter issues, environmental charity Keep Scotland Beautiful is creating 20 new litter picking hubs across Scotland by providing free litter picking equipment that will be available for individuals and groups to borrow, following strict social distancing and safety guidance.

In Edinburgh, the Sustainability Committee at the Western General Hospital will receive a kit, making the group the first hub in the Edinburgh area.

You can contact the local hub by email at ECRF.sustainability@ed.ac.uk

The 20 community groups from across the country are the second collection of litter picking hubs established in Scotland, following eleven created last month.

Through these hubs, Keep Scotland Beautiful is striving to empower communities who are frustrated by litter which worsened during lockdown and over the summer.

Polling commissioned by Keep Scotland Beautiful in June shows that 30% of people think that litter has got worse in their local area during lockdown.

Barry Fisher, Chief Executive at Keep Scotland Beautiful, commented: “During lockdown, many of us spent time enjoying our local parks and green spaces.

“Lockdown showed us how important these areas are to our health and well-being. Unfortunately, a minority of people have behaved in an irresponsible and selfish manner, dropping their rubbish, leaving it for others to clean up and spoiling our beautiful country.

By using the litter picking hubs, people will be able to tackle litter in the areas they care about and help Clean Up Scotland.”

The funding for these Helping Hands litter kits has been provided by Zero Waste Scotland, and will see kits containing ten litter pickers, gloves, bag hoops and hi vis vests to allow people to take part in either individual or two household litter picks.

The community groups will also be able to access posters and social media content to help encourage people to look after their local places and keep Scotland beautiful.

Iain Gulland, Chief Executive of Zero Waste Scotland, said: “Litter has no place in a circular economy. Discarding resources like plastic, metal and glass not only blights our communities, it also wastes valuable materials that should be being kept in use for as long as possible.

“Whether it has been our local streets, parks, woodland, countryside or coastline, recent months have highlighted how valuable our environment is to so many of us and why it needs to be kept that way.

“It is a shame these are needed, but the litter picking hubs will give communities the opportunity to tackle the nuisance of litter and ensure the areas they love can continue to look their best.”

Further detail of these hubs can be found here on the Clean Up Scotland website: https://www.keepscotlandbeautiful.org/local-environmental-quality/clean-up-scotland/clean-up-scotland-map/