Towards a litter-free Scotland: a strategic approach to higher quality local environments

3. The Strategic Overview

3.1 'Towards a Litter-free Scotland' sets out how Scotland can significantly reduce litter and flytipping and support cleaner, safer communities.

3.2 It recognises that if people do the right thing with waste, Scotland can save money and benefit from the economic value of litter and flytipped materials.

3.3 At the heart of the strategy is prevention: encouraging individuals to take personal responsibility to make sure that waste does not pollute the environment in the first place.

3.4 The strategy advocates a Scotland which benefits from better environmental quality and safer, more prosperous communities in place of the current problems of litter and flytipping.

3.5 The strategy's actions are all about influencing people's behaviours, in particular, motivating people to:

• Stop littering.
• Stop flytipping.
• Recycle in public places.

Within this strategy: Litter is waste in the wrong place: the wider environment. It can be all kinds of man-made materials Flytipping is illegal dumping of waste - from a bin bag of household waste to large quantities of domestic, commercial or construction waste. Recycle on the Go is activities/facilities to make recycling easier in busy public places. It includes recycling bins and take back/rewards schemes.

3.6 The strategy's purpose is to influence these behaviours through interventions on:

• Information - improving the sources, consistency and nature of messages.
• Infrastructure - improving the facilities and services provided to reduce litter and promote recycling.
• Enforcement - strengthening the deterrent effect of legislation.

3.7 In influencing these behaviours and delivering these interventions, over a five-year period, the strategy sets the following approach:

• People first: delivering action that helps people to take personal responsibility and which reaches and includes all members of society.
• Prevention: prioritising action and innovation that proactively prevents litter and flytipping and boosts resource efficiency.
• Accountability: organisations with responsibilities and duties should deliver these efficiently and effectively, and according to their statutory responsibilities, particularly considering safety: no one should be at risk of harm in delivering interventions.

3.8 This approach is self-enforcing and delivery partners are expected to engage with it. The need for strengthened action may be considered following the strategy's review in 2016-17.

Why does it matter?

3.9 Scotland has a rich environmental heritage. Its outstanding natural beauty, landscapes and biodiversity are recognised across the world, and living in a clean, safe community has social, environmental and economic benefits for us all.

3.10 By encouraging people to take personal responsibility for litter and flytipped material Scotland can avoid unnecessary spending on cleaning up and - if recycled - littered material could be worth at least £1.2 million a year ^[4] .

3.11 Evidence demonstrates that seeing litter and flytipping in a location can encourage people to discard even more items there ^[5] . It becomes accepted practice - a 'social norm'.

Litter and flytipping are a risk to public health and wellbeing. At least £46 million of public money is spent removing litter and flytipping from the environment each year. And the wider negative impacts of litter impose at least a further £25 million in costs on our society and economy. These are antisocial behaviours, and criminal offences. Scotland’s Litter Problem: Quantifying the scale and cost of litter and flytipping – section 4.6

3.12 Reducing litter and reusing and recycling materials also makes good sense for business:

• People like to visit and shop in a clean and safe environment.
• Brand reputation can be damaged when products are discarded irresponsibly.
• Business efficiency can be improved by reducing packaging.
• And as the price of raw materials escalate, reusing, refurbishing and reprocessing materials makes good sense and provides a rich opportunity for innovation, skills and jobs.

3.13 This strategy's prevention focus is in line with a wider emphasis on efficiency in public services. It also contributes to National Outcomes which apply across public policy in Scotland:

• We reduce the local and global environmental impact of our consumption and production.
• Our public services are high quality, continually improving, efficient and responsive to local people's needs.
• We value and enjoy our built and natural environment and protect it and enhance it for future generations.
• We live in well-designed, sustainable places where we are able to access the amenities and services we need.

3.14 This strategy's focus on litter and flytipping complements wider action to improve environmental quality, such as tackling dog fouling and graffiti.

3.15 It will also support the Marine Litter Strategy, which has been developed in parallel to this strategy, since a significant amount of marine litter originates on land and reaches the sea via lochs and rivers (Zero Waste Scotland research ^[6] ).

3.16 Broader work to create the conditions for a more resource efficient ^[7] and circular economy ^[8] is set out in the Zero Waste Plan (2010) and Safeguarding Scotland's Resources (2013).

3.17 This litter strategy has been shaped by dialogue and consultation, including an environmental assessment. Further details are in Annex A. It is also in line with the approach to influencing behaviour, in our Low Carbon Scotland: A Behaviours Framework (2013) ^[9] . Further details are provided in Annex B.

Figure 3: 'Scotland's Zero Waste Plan' and 'Safeguarding Scotland's Resources: Blueprint for a More Resource Efficient and Circular Economy'.

Who will deliver this strategy?

3.18 Action to reduce litter, influence behaviour and ultimately deliver this strategy rests with a range of delivery partners - many of whom have specialist knowledge of tackling and preventing litter and flytipping, and resource management ^[10] .

3.19 Some delivery partners' responsibilities and interests will span the full range of actions in this strategy. For example, local authorities can have an influence in many ways through their action on managing land, clean up, town centres, tourism, economic development, community safety, licensing, education and enforcement.

3.20 Others will want to focus on specific areas. For example, business interest will focus on clean up and the role of product or service design.

Delivery partners include: Landowners and land managers Businesses Resource management industry Scottish Government Local authorities Third Sector organisations, including environmental charities Local community groups Justice services The range of delivery partners is extensive. This strategy does not attempt to provide a complete list.

3.21 Further interests include cross-cutting organisations such as Community Planning Partnerships, Business Improvement Districts and equalities interests as well as more targeted groups such as the Environmental Crime Taskforce, Scottish Flytipping Forum, Transport Litter Group and the Chewing Gum Action Group.

3.22 A co-ordinated approach, which delivers consistent messages, helps to make it clear what people need to do, and why. It recognises that people move across boundaries: between public and private land and across local authorities.

3.23 A common and consistent approach will help to influence behaviour and encourage people to take responsibility for their litter.

3.24 This strategy underpins work already underway and encourages partnership and collaboration by setting a clear direction of travel, while providing flexibility for organisations to develop their own objectives.

3.25 Organisations are encouraged to update their existing operating plans/strategies or develop action plans to cover how they will take forward specific actions in relation to the themes and interventions set out in this strategy.

3.26 Zero Waste Scotland will support this work by sharing existing best practice, and providing template action plans which organisations can draw on as required.

3.27 Zero Waste Scotland's own annual plan will outline the high-level actions it will take on behalf of the Scottish Government.

Action already underway

3.28 The Scottish Government, with Zero Waste Scotland, has:

• Developed a communications toolkit for delivery partners and a behaviour change marketing campaign to discourage littering.
• Commissioned a drinks container deposit-return scheme feasibility study.
• Started work to better understand links between enforcement delivery and the legal system.
• Supported the Transport Litter Group's Litter Week of Action to cut litter on the transport network.
• Taken forward legislation to:
  • Increase the fixed penalties for litter and flytipping, from £50 each to £80 and £200 respectively.
  • Create powers for Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park, and other public bodies, to issue fixed penalties.
  • Create a requirement for alleged offenders to provide their name and address to enforcement officers.
  • Clarify local authorities' powers regarding the placement and retrieval of bins, in order to reduce accidental litter.
  • Discourage large-scale flytipping, with new powers for SEPA and action to recover landfill tax from illegally deposited waste by Revenue Scotland and SEPA.
  • Introduce a charging scheme for single-use carrier bags - a highly visible form of litter - from October 2014.

Figure 4: Transport Litter Group's Litter Week of Action.

3.29 We have committed up to £500,000 towards Keep Scotland Beautiful's Clean Up Scotland initiative in the period from 2013-2015. As a result of joint working (between Keep Scotland Beautiful, local authorities, businesses and communities) during 2013:

• More than 245,000 volunteers took part in the initiative.
• Around 3,500 clean ups (297 per month) took place.
• More than 2,000 tonnes of litter were removed across Scotland.

Innovation and creativity

3.30 To drive continued improvements to our local environments it is vital to look beyond simply doing the same things more effectively.

3.31 This strategy encourages delivery partners to identify what they can do to inspire people to take personal responsibility, and to maintain that behaviour. This can be developed through:

• Creativity - imaginative solutions that meet peoples' needs in relation to preventing litter and flytipping.
• Innovation - translating creative potential into practical initiatives.

3.32 The Scottish Government has identified three projects to take forward as early actions:

• Community empowerment: a pilot scheme that rewards communities which boost the number of voluntary clean ups in local black spots - land which others' are not already taking responsibility for. This incentive scheme provides a focus for communities to prioritise the problem areas that matter to them.
• Improved product/packaging design: a call for designers, industry and students/academics to come forward with ideas that prevent or reduce the impact of littered items in the environment. This could include designs which reduce the number of littered items ( e.g. plastic sleeves on drinks bottles) or ways to keep items together (for example ring pulls). It could also encourage reusable products, such as coffee cups.
• Tailored local messaging: we will pilot a range of projects to influence behaviour, for example through street art, signs and bin design. These will be designed to motivate people to do the right thing: either by highlighting the effects of litter and flytipping on people and wildlife, or by focusing on tackling particular types of litter (such as smoking litter), or litter in a particular environment ( e.g. on roadside verges, or in the marine environment).

3.33 Through a flexible approach, that considers audiences' needs and evolving attitudes, this approach can successfully influence behaviour.

What will success look like?

3.34 The following outcomes, which reflect the aspirations of Towards a Litter-free Scotland, will demonstrate the success of the strategy in achieving significant reductions in litter and flytipping by influencing people's behaviour:

	Outcomes
1.	Personal responsibility: people litter less because they are clear what is expected of them and are motivated to take their waste home, use a bin, or recycle it.
2.	Improved environmental quality: a shift in culture to value local environmental quality more highly. Human and animal welfare is better protected and local communities are attractive places in which to live, work and invest.
3.	Economic potential: the value of resources is realised through action and innovation to reduce, reuse and recycle material currently littered or flytipped.
4.	Co-ordination: organisations are better equipped to provide customers and staff with consistent messages, facilities and efficient services.
5.	Value for money: the cost effectiveness of public services is improved by reducing the scale of clear up required, at the same time as reducing the negative costs of litter and flytipping on wider society.

Monitoring impact

3.35 The Scottish Government will work closely with other delivery partners to establish an effective approach to measurement which clarifies:

• The scale of the existing challenges.
• The impact of actions to address these challenges.
• Baselines to support measurement.
• Key indicators to measure progress.
• Timescale for actions and benefits.

3.36 This strategy is intended to be implemented over a five-year period, with on-going programme arrangements to monitor delivery.

Roles and responsibilities

3.37 The Scottish Government's role is to provide leadership, alongside its resource efficiency partner Zero Waste Scotland. It will support delivery partners in developing their plans to take the strategy forward. The strategy's objectives are:

Scottish Government “To support delivery partners to create the conditions that encourage the public to take personal responsibility for preventing litter and flytipping.” The outputs are to: Inform and engage the public at a national level (prevention focus). Legislate, regulate and provide guidance where necessary (people first). Monitor and review national progress (accountability).

Landowners, land managers and resource management “To work with relevant partners to drive behaviour change, achieve more cost effective litter and flytipping clean up and realise the value of materials.” The outputs are to: Provide facilities and services and/or inform the public of what they need to do (prevention focus). Deliver enforcement where necessary and communicate the effectiveness of this (people first). Improve the monitoring and reporting of litter and flytipping on public and private land, and of actions taken to address them (accountability).

Business “To influence behaviour through innovation, staff training, corporate accountability, partnership with other organisations and education.” The outputs are: Customer engagement (prevention focus). Product and service design (people first). Improve the monitoring and reporting of litter and flytipping and of actions taken to address them, and boost recycling (accountability).

Third Sector and local groups “To work with public and private sector to prevent litter and flytipping and maximise resource efficiency.” Its outputs are to: Communicate messages to local and specialist audiences (prevention focus). Help shape others’ litter plans and delivery arrangements (people first). Where appropriate, support monitoring (accountability).