Marine Litter Strategy Steering Group minutes: March 2024

Attendees and apologies

• Anne Saunders, Marine Directorate
• Morag Campbell, Marine Directorate
• Karen Scoular, Marine Directorate
• Bill Turrell, Marine Directorate
• Sophie Green, Zero Waste Scotland
• Julia Cant, KIMO UK
• Vickie Last, Scottish Islands Federation
• Heather McLaughlin, Keep Scotland Beautiful
• Wendy Murray, Coastal Communities Network
• Catherine Gemmell, Marine Conservation Society
• Heather McFarlane, Fidra
• Jane Nelson, Scottish Islands Federation
• Karen Hall, NatureScot
• Bess Homer, Scottish Water
• Nina Valentine, Scottish Fishermen's Federation

Apologies

• Anneli Hill, Crown Estate Scotland
• Anne Dagg, Zero Waste Delivery
• Arabelle Bentley, KIMO
• Caroline Hutton, Transport Scotland
• Craig Fraser, Scottish Environment Protection Agency
• Lauren Smith, East Grampian Coastal Partnership
• Thomasina Glover, Islay Development Initiative
• Candice Maharaj, 2050 Climate Group
• Kirstin McEwan, 2050 Climate Group
• Mark Hartl, Marine Alliance for Science and Technology Scotland

Items and actions

Agenda

Welcome, introduction of new members

Deep dive presentation on pellets, followed by discussion

Actions from the previous meeting

MLS Action Plan updates

Additional updates from Marine Directorate

Any other business 

Next meeting date

Welcome, introductions

AS invited new member NV to introduce herself to the group. AS also explained that a change had been made to the suggested agenda, and that the deep dive presentation on pellets would take place at the start of the meeting.

Deep dive presentation on pellets, followed by discussion

MC gave an overview of work on plastic pellets in the context of marine litter. The group thanked MC for her presentation. There followed some questions, and a short discussion.

Actions from the previous meeting

Action 1 – KS to ask for update on the objective ‘Understanding Scottish island beach litter’ within strategic direction 4, as JN had left the meeting

JN provided the following update: The Scottish Islands Federation (SIF) has an active group of members called the SIF Marine Litter Working Group (MLWG). This is comprised of representatives from marine litter and beach cleaning groups throughout the Scottish islands and some specialists from the Scottish Government Marine Directorate, the Marine Conservation Society (MCS) and KIMO. In total there are about 20 members and they meet monthly.

In 2023 a programme of gathering data from beaches and coastal areas in the Scottish Islands was initiated. There are 4 main data collection events each year which last a month each – winter, spring, summer and autumn. The data collected from their beach cleaning programme is fed into the MCS Beachwatch programme and they are working with them to analyse the data. In 2023 there were around 100 surveys submitted. The methodology has been refined over the past year. The plan is to work with the MCS to create a report on the results from 2023 to come out in the next couple of months. They have fed into MCS ‘State of our Beaches’ Report published a few days ago.

Action 2 – LS offered to find out if there may be future events and opportunities for engagement with the local coastal partnerships

LS shared a link to East Grampian Coastal Partnership’s (EGCP) Eventbrite page where upcoming events are added.

EGCP will be exhibiting at Tech Fest this year (27 May – 2 June). Dates for other big events such as SeaFest are yet to be announced.

Action 3 – LS will share the East Coast Plan outcome once it has been finalised

No update yet as regards to the State of the Coast Report – this will be shared with the group once published.

Action 4 – KS to share a link to the archived webpages and previous minutes with the group

This link was added to most recent version of the minutes from the November 2023 meeting.

MLS Action Plan updates

Strategic direction 1 - Improve public and business attitudes and behaviours around marine and coastal litter, in co-ordination with the National Litter and Flytipping Strategy

Objective: Encourage positive behaviour and deter littering and flytipping

Zero Waste Delivery

• the evidence review has been completed and the report will be published in due course
• some actions recommended in the review are already being worked on

Objective: Improve waste management in the fishing and aquaculture sector

Marine Directorate (Policy)

• work has recommenced at a cross-UK level
• the group is beginning to look at how it will work across the four nations, using the research we have already conducted and published on end of life gear and volumes added annually to stockpiles / gear potentially available for recycling options
• options presented within the published papers have been considered, and these are now being evaluated
• a contractor has been engaged by Defra, for the benefit of all four nations
• the contractor is currently engaging with the sector through direct interviews and online surveys to better understand the behaviour of purchasing and disposal – this work is due to conclude within next few months
• extended producer responsibility (EPR) is currently not the focus. The group is looking to build on other options and will engage with all relevant sectors
• several EU member states may have the mechanisms for EPR schemes but are struggling with implementation – infrastructure not in place, limited avenues for collection, waste processing, the limited routes to use recyclate; EPR is very expensive
• MC and AS attended a joint EU-OSPAR workshop last week
• working toward publishing the CEN standard on gear (end of 2024)
• european standard is applicable in UK for those companies who wish to trade in Europe
• there will be engagement activities around this to promote standard when published

Action 1 – AS to find out whether there are any Scottish companies producing gear that aren’t exporting to EU and discuss with colleagues working on the Circular Economy bill

Objective: Improve waste management for collected marine litter

Marine Directorate (Policy)

• data is being compiled on existing facilities, this is feeding into OSPAR work
• the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) is now considering transposition of Port Reception Facilities Directive into UK law
• this supports end of life waste management, where ports and harbours accept this waste with an indirect fee
• this is a long term ongoing action, as opportunities arise

Objective: Reduce sewage related debris through a behavioural change campaign

Scottish Water

• BH shared that the campaign is up and running

Strategic direction 2 - Reduce marine and coastal based sources of litter, with a focus on the most problematic sources, in coordination with land sourced litter being reduced by the National Litter and Flytipping Strategy

Objective: Reduce plastic pellet loss into the marine environment

Marine Directorate (Policy)

• an update had been provided by MC in her earlier presentation to the group

Objective: Improve the ability of the fishing industry to retrieve lost fishing gear from the sea

Marine Directorate (Policy)

• this action is being led by the Inshore Fisheries Team, and is ongoing as opportunities arise. Colleagues recently had contact from a Norwegian company wishing to talk about their technology
• an update on the CEN standard was given within SD1

Objective: Reduce sources of sewage-related debris (SRD)

Marine Directorate (Policy)

• responses to the recent consultation on proposals to ban wet wipes containing plastic are currently being analysed
• a government response will be published soon, and the outcome of the consultation analysis will influence our next steps. Each administration will choose its own route, but the Scottish Government would prefer UK alignment for a ban. This would make compliance much easier for manufacturers and avoid issues regarding the UK Internal Market Act
• regarding other SRD items, this remains a long-term action

Scottish Water

• medium term actions have been set, locations have been identified and work is planned
• aesthetic surveys have already been completed

Strategic direction 3 - Support the removal of marine litter from the marine and coastal environment

Objective: Reduce the cost of disposal of collected marine litter

Marine Directorate (Policy)

• the Marine Directorate is working on a data gathering exercise with Glasgow City Council, and there is potential for data to be gathered through other routes

Objective: Increase the number of rivers in Scotland with co-ordinated projects to reduce litter levels, including removal

Keep Scotland Beautiful

• upstream battle – In August/September 2023, funding was received from Marine Fund Scotland and KSB is considering the possible expansion of the project nationwide, along with fresh citizen science, and developing a tool-kit. In the longer term KSB is seeking funding for Upstream Battle to continue
• KSB is keen to use learning from Upstream Battle to look at citizen science data currently and identify where the gaps are and what issues might be
• SG asked if this data is available, HMcL advised that this is on KSB’s website and that their report will be public-facing

Objective: Expansion of the Fishing for Litter project

KIMO

• KIMO is now up to 427 participating vessels. Liaison contractors are now in post. KIMO understand that some vessels may not still be operating, but they are signing up new vessels all the time
• the number of participating harbours has increased from 20 to 34 in Scotland within last couple of years, and more are joining
• the liaison officer is also helping promote the scheme. There is a greater awareness of the project too
• KIMO has been speaking to smaller scale recyclers, and a report has been compiled on litter pulled from the sea, based on what is found in skips. This report looks at the materials found and considers what can be done with them
• a mandate is needed to go through skips and work with harbours to get project off the ground. This is a pilot project, KIMO currently do not have the manpower or resources to work through the material

Objective: Support the installation of riverine litter removal technology in the River Clyde

Marine Directorate (Policy)

• Glasgow City Council are conducting short project looking at a potential location for the boom. This work is being funded by Marine Fund Scotland. A report on the outcome of these investigations will be produced shortly

Strategic direction 4 - Improve monitoring at a Scottish scale and develop measures for strategy evaluation

Objective: Use of Fishing for Litter initiative data to evaluate industry engagement

KIMO

• this work is ongoing

Objective: Accurate assessments of marine plastics in Scottish waters

Marine Directorate (Science)

• work is progressing toward an agreed monitoring methodology within OSPAR
• also OSPAR methodology for assessing concentration of pellets on beaches is being piloted in the Netherlands and France

Objective: Development of an agreed methodology for inter-tidal microplastic monitoring

MASTS

• no change from previous meeting

Objective: Social science evaluation of the Marine Litter Strategy

Marine Directorate (Policy)

• this report was published on the Scottish Government website

Objective: Understanding Scottish island beach litter

Marine Directorate (Science) and Scottish Islands Federation

• JN is still covering the Northern Isles work
• part 1 completed – papers published
• part 2 – research conducted, papers published, and another will be forthcoming
• last year a report covering Mallaig and small isles was published. There will be another SIF report this year. This will be shared with the group once published

Action 2 – JN will share a report on Mallaig and small isles from last year with group.

• off the back of the recent Marine Conservation Society report, there will be another report on island litter
• BT – highlighted that the group is to be congratulated for its work so far, there has been a huge effort which has led to huge success
• there has been an increase of 112% in the number of Beachwatch surveys coming from Scottish Islands
• CG asked if any of the group had ideas on future funding, to please get in touch

Strategic direction 5 - Maintain and strengthen stakeholder co-ordination in Scotland, the UK, EU and globally

Objective: Expand communications and understanding of Marine Litter Strategy work with delivery partners

Marine Directorate (Policy)

• LS had provided link to East Grampian Coastal Partnership’s Eventbrite page, and the team will monitor for opportunities
• CG informed the group that members of the public from Saint Vincent and the Grenadines had made contact with MCS. CG asked if the group was able to point them towards any other international contacts. Perhaps, Ocean Conservancy International Coastal Clean-up outside of the EU?
• HMcF volunteered some suggestions, including Break Free From Plastic

Objective: Build on and strengthen working relationships with wider UK

Marine Directorate (Policy)

• the Scottish Government is continuing to contribute to the UK negotiation position on UN plastics treaty. The Cleans Seas team is contributing on pellets and fishing gear in particular

Objective: 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

Marine Directorate (Policy)

• OSPAR Regional Action Plan (RAP) – MC is continuing to lead on various actions under RAP, and progressing work on pellets and aquaculture gear as per updates given earlier
• Environmental Impacts of Human Activities (EIHA) annual meeting will take place mid-April
• indictors for microplastic in seafloor sediment will be considered
• there will also be consideration of measures to take action on expanded polystyrene e.g. in pontoons
• there will be background information documents on artificial pitch infill and end of life recreational vessels
• update on outcomes will be given at the next meeting

Objective: Strengthen co-ordination across the British-Irish Council region

Marine Directorate (Policy)

• all work plans of the working groups are currently being reconsidered
• the Environmental Working Group is meeting early December
• there will be a ministerial event later in the year

Additional updates from Marine Directorate

Marine Fund Scotland (MFS)

• several applications relating to marine litter have been granted funds in the 2023/24 round, including from KIMO, KSB, Solway Firth Partnership, Moray Firth partnership and Glasgow City Council – these contribute to the delivery of actions within the Maine Litter Strategy
• no further information is available on the next round, but the team will inform the group when information is available

Any other business 

CG had been contacted by a member of the public who previously worked in offshore industries regarding cable ties as a source of marine litter. They are proposing a solution for offcuts so they are not being discarded and ending up in the sea. CG asked if there was anything the group could do to support this work.

HMcF highlighted that this sounded similar to work done in France previously, and work done on net mending offcuts in Cornwall.

NV heard back on practicalities of this from fishers and if used and how successful. There seem to be parallels with this work, similar working environments etc. This solution may be applicable for many industries, however there may be health and safety implications.

BT stated that he would like to learn more. The aforementioned PhD research draws attention to smaller pieces of gear and offcuts as a source of marine litter.

Action 3 – CG to share further information and contact details for work being done on cable ties with the group.

HMcL highlighted that KSB has been working closely with Irvine Clean Up Crew and North Ayrshire Council to investigate ways to tackle the litter found along and in the River Irvine.

KSB wish to pinpoint the source of some of this litter and asked the group to share any insights in terms of locations up or downstream that could be contributing to the problem, or an understanding of any geological/tidal factors having an impact. There has been flytipped items (or larger items we assume has come through from flytipping) but also large volumes of plastic bottles and juice pouches.

Next meeting date

AS suggested meeting in June 2024, early / mid-month and highlighted that school holidays start late June / early July and that recess starts on 28 June.

AS also asked for suggestions or volunteers for the discussion topic at the next meeting.