Marine litter strategy for Scotland: consultation analysis

Appendix G: Marine Scotland Directorate Response

This report was prepared by EKOS using the responses from the public consultation, and quoting a sample of the comments received. All received comments were then reviewed separately by Marine Scotland Directorate, and will be taken into consideration while the Marine Litter Strategy and Action Plan is finalised.

The draft Action Plan that was put out for consultation was produced in collaboration with the Marine Litter Strategy Steering Group and relevant stakeholders. Individual actions, deliverables, timescales (short, medium, or long term), and responsible lead organisations were all given careful consideration with respect to a variety of pressures. These included: organisational plans and available resources (staff time and financial) of the responsible leads; the Scottish Government's possession of devolved powers to progress new legislation; the ability of responsible leads to contribute to new processes, including within the EU; and the ability to utilise novel approaches to hitherto unresolved issues.

To illustrate this, some explanations are given below relating to actions where large volumes of comments or alternative actions had been suggested via the consultation:

• A large number of comments were received on littering, flytipping, and land-based litter. These were all passed to the policy team updating the National Litter and Flytipping Strategy for their consideration.
• Actions on waste from the fishing and aquaculture sectors have been aligned to the EU directives on Single-use Plastics and Port Reception Facilities, and to planned work of the European Committee for Standardisation (CEN).
• Actions regarding retrieval of lost fishing gear will be addressed through contributing to the planned work of CEN. This is in addition to work Scottish Government is already conducting on this issue.
• Following the introduction of the UK Internal Market Act 2020, the new legislative landscape means Scottish Government will consider, with the other UK administrations, future options on reducing sewage related debris items as sources of marine litter.
• Following a Scottish, and more recently a UK call for evidence, the Scottish Government is working with the UK Government and other Devolved Administrations to determine the best means of reducing plastic wet wipes as a source of marine litter. The UK-wide responses suggested that some alternative wet wipes to the market may still risk environmental health and sewer blockages. We will continue to work across our policy areas of zero waste, water quality and water industry to reach a solution.
• Each Local Authority decides how to spend their budget, and how that is allocated across waste and cleaning services, including that relating to beach cleaning. There are other mechanisms Scottish Government intend to explore to potentially reduce costs related to such activities where excessive volumes of collected beach litter need to be disposed.
• Many of Scotland's islands face unique challenges in dealing with marine litter that arrives on their shores, much of which derives from marine activities in the Atlantic Ocean rather than land-based sources. The actions on island litter intend to initiate novel research into these specific issues.

The vast majority of respondents (both individuals and organisations) agreed (i.e. agreed or strongly agreed) that the planned actions under each of the five Strategic Directions would contribute to the successful implementation of the Strategy. The substance of these actions will not therefore be altered. However, all consultation responses will be taken into consideration in order to make appropriate adjustments to the wording of actions or to update actions where responsible lead organisations have made progress.