Scotland’s future litter strategies

In December 2021 the Scottish Government published two consultation papers: the National Litter and Flytipping: consultation and the Marine Litter Strategy: Consultation.

Both consultations look to gather views from stakeholders on the objectives that will shape Scotland’s litter strategies for the next six years.

We have provided a summary of each consultation paper below to aid stakeholders who are looking to engage with these consultations.

National Litter and Flytipping Strategy Consultation

The Scottish Government first published a National Litter Strategy in 2014. This strategy was reviewed in November 2019. It was found that some progress had been made since this strategy was first introduced, including a shift in focus from clearance to prevention, increased opportunity for reuse and recycling and the introduction of a new litter monitoring system. Despite this progress the issue of littering has been found to remain a major problem in Scotland.

In March 2021 to determine future action a litter summit was hosted by Keep Scotland Beautiful in partnership with Zero Waste Scotland and the Scottish Government. At the summit flytipping was found to have been a major issue during the pandemic. Following from this, it was proposed that flytipping and litter should be treated as distinct issues and the previous strategy updated.

The new strategy’s objectives outlined in the consultation include the following:

• Research to understand behaviours that lead to littering and flytipping, to allow targeted approaches to these issues;
• A shared approach to prevention amongst the Scottish Government, local authorities, public agencies and the third sector;
• An improved understanding of sources, amount and composition of litter and flytipping to develop targeted interventions to reduce these;
• A shared approach to services that effectively support litter prevention;
• Support the development of consistent, innovative and effective waste services and infrastructure;
• Provide support to private landowners and land managers that experience flytipping on their land;
• Empower community groups to take action – creating a national litter hub that provides online advice and support to communities;
• Develop a more effective enforcement model by: reviewing barriers to enforcement, consider raising notice amounts, exploring potential alternative penalties, and creating further powers for enforcement; and
• Improve the consistency of enforcement practices.

Deadline

The consultation is open until 31 March 2022. You can view and comment on it here.

Marine Litter Strategy Consultation

The Marine Litter Strategy Steering Group (membership of which includes representatives from academia, environmental charities and non-governmental organisations, terrestrial litter interests, the fishing industry, and public bodies that have responsibility for dealing with pollution in our waterways) have been working on updating the Marine Litter Strategy for Scotland.

The new strategy’s objectives outlined in the consultation include the following:

• Strengthen the enforcement of litter and flytipping regulations in co-ordination with the National Litter and Flytipping Strategy delivery team;
• Improve waste management in the fishing and aquaculture sector, by establishing systems to support the collection and recycling of gear;
• Improve waste management for collected marine litter;
• Reduce sewage related debris through a behavioural change campaign;
• Reduce plastic pellet loss into the marine environment;
• Improve the ability of the fishing industry to retrieve lost fishing gear from the sea;
• Reduce sources of sewage-related debris (SRD);
• Reduce the cost of disposal of collected marine litter;
• Increase the number of rivers in Scotland with co-ordinated projects to reduce litter levels, including removal;
• Expansion of the Fishing for Litter project;
• Support the installation of riverine litter removal technology in the River Clyde;
• Use of Fishing for Litter initiative data to evaluate industry engagement;
• Accurate assessments of marine plastics in Scottish water;
• Development of an agreed methodology for inter-tidal microplastic monitoring;
• Social science evaluation of the Marine Litter Strategy;
• Understanding Scottish island beach litter;
• Expand communications and understanding of Marine Litter Strategy work with delivery partners;
• Build on and strengthen working relationships with wider UK;
• Increase engagement with OSPAR (which includes the European Commission) through: participation in and implementation of the Regional Action Plan for Marine Litter; and taking a lead role with relevant actions; and
• Strengthen co-ordination across the British-Irish Council region.

This consultation follows the Marine Litter Strategy Steering Group’s earlier engagement process. The Group is looking to gather further views from stakeholders in order to ensure the correct approach is taken for the Marine Litter Strategy and Action Plan.

Deadline

The consultation is open until 22 March 2022. You can view and comment on it here.

We’ll be keeping a close eye on the outcomes of these consultations and how they will impact on the business practices of our clients. If you’d like to discuss what they might mean for you, please get in touch.