Litter and flytipping strategy: final business and regulatory impact assessment

4.0 Options

As described above, the scope of this Business Regulatory Impact Assessment (BRIA) is the publication of the strategy and associated action plan. The detailed development of actions will follow and each relevant policy action will be required to have an individual BRIA conducted.

4.1 No policy change – business as usual

Business as usual is the baseline against which the costs and benefits of the implementation of each of the policy actions will be assessed. It assumes the continuation of the 2014 litter strategy; "Towards a litter-free Scotland".

It is anticipated that the annual costs of litter and flytipping to public bodies would rise annually in relation to future labour and landfill tax costs to maintain the status quo in the absence of a strategy. Those costs have potential to decrease in the context of the litter and flytipping strategy successfully delivering longer-term litter and flytipping prevention interventions.

The recent COVID-19 pandemic has led to an increase in the use of at least some disposable items, which will likely lead to a rise in littering and flytipping. The cost of living crisis is likely to impact on stakeholders across the economy. While difficult to predict, these impacts are likely to include: influencing consumer behaviour, changes in business practices, local authority, other duty body and government spending allocations.

Disposable items are still imported, made, bought and used in Scotland. Significant numbers of these items occur as litter (thereby creating societal disamenity costs) and enter Scottish waters (threatening the health of the marine environment). Under this scenario, consumers and businesses would not be incentivised further to prevent litter and flytipping and manage them effectively, other than through their own motivations to protect the environment and existing measures to prevent littering and flytipping.

4.1.1 Costs and Benefits

It is unlikely that additional financial costs or burdens will be placed on local authorities and enforcement bodies in Scotland due to a lack of any new activity to tackle litter and flytipping being implemented through a national litter and flytipping strategy. The cost of littering and flytipping will continue to be borne by public bodies, businesses, and communities. It can however be expected that this will change with other similar future policy developments such as extended producer responsibility (EPR) being developed for areas such as packaging, batteries, waste electricals and electronics equipment (WEEE), as well as the forthcoming deposit return scheme (DRS). Without further action to encourage behaviour change and prevent littering and flytipping, the costs of the problem will continue to rise and burden society.

4.2 Option 1: Implementation of the litter and flytipping strategy

The launch of the new strategy and action plan is intended to present a new approach to litter and flytipping prevention – one which considers the whole life cycle of commonly littered and flytipped items in recognition of the loss of resources from the circular economy and the resulting contribution to the twin crises of climate and biodiversity loss.

The overarching ambition of the Strategy is to prevent littering and flytipping behaviour in Scotland. This will be achieved through the application of a systems approach, to identify where the necessary incentives are not in place to ensure a product is disposed of legally and in a way which maximises the value of that product or the materials within it. This involves looking at the entire lifecycle of products in question and those actors who are involved in influencing individuals at the point of disposal.

The Strategy has a lifespan of 6 years. It will be reviewed at its mid-point and at the end of its lifespan. It will be published with an associated action plan, which will be reviewed annually through the governance and delivery framework which will comprise of a high-level strategy delivery group to drive implementation, agree priorities, review progress and adapt plans. This will be supported by topic-focussed delivery working groups and other mechanisms for engaging key stakeholders and sectors to ensure a wide level of input into and scrutiny of future action plans.

In addition to undertaking BRIAs, through our Equalities Impact Assessment we will work with different groups across society to consider impacts on medical, health and wellbeing, as well as independent living.

4.2.1 Sectors and Groups affected

The following sectors and groups may be directly or indirectly impacted by the National Litter and Flytipping Strategy to varying degrees depending on type, uptake, involvement and locations of interventions:

• Governments
• Environmental Regulator / enforcement agencies
• Delivery organisations
• 3^rd sector and environmental charities
• Duty Bodies
• Private landowners
• Local Authorities
• Producers
• Retailers
• Hospitality & Quick Service Restaurants
• Volunteers & Community Groups
• Infrastructure operators
• Universities & Colleges
• Technology Providers
• Marine stakeholders
• Re-use networks
• Waste Management sector
• Business Improvement Districts
• National parks

The span of the strategy and associated actions will impact on a range of individuals and organisations that engage in activities that contribute to littering and flytipping. At this stage it is not apparent to what extent different sectors and groups would be impacted. The results from the public consultation process have been used to inform our understanding in this area and further proportionate assessment of how these groups are impacted by the interventions set out in the high-level action plan will be undertaken during the design and implementation of individual actions, which will be taken forward through the governance and delivery framework to enable a wide range of input from key stakeholders and sectors.

4.2.2 Costs and Benefits

The detailed development of actions will follow and each policy action will be required to have an individual BRIA conducted which will address costs and benefits.