The clock is ticking – we call for urgent action on delayed proposals to tackle ground and binned litter

Almost 70% of people report seeing single-use food containers, wrappers and packaging littered in Scotland.

Our country needs investment in new sustained litter campaigns, infrastructure and innovation to reduce our single-use consumption, in particular food and drink packaging.  But, in order to do this, we need urgent regulation, and funding to support action.  

We know that reform of regulations with implementation powers devolved to Scotland could generate additional funds that put prevention and behaviour change at the heart of tackling Scotland’s litter emergency.

For the past two years we have been collecting data and making the case for packaging found as litter to be included in Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging regulations (pEPR).

We’ve raised the issue the of packaging littered on the ground and placed in bins with the Acting Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Energy, Gillian Martin at round tables, and been heartened by her, and the Scottish Government’s, commitment to ensuring ground and binned litter are addressed in pEPR reforms.

We have presented our data and evidence to the Scottish Government and civil servants in Scotland and made the case for action at a UK level.

Our work with Keep Wales Tidy is ongoing to jointly call on the UK Government to not abandon the ambition of extending the scope of Extended Producer responsibility scheme for packaging to cover ground and binned litter.

And our CEO Barry Fisher, met with Kirsty McNeil MP for Midlothian and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland, earlier this year to brief her on our work, the extensive data set we hold for Scotland and to ask her to ensure communication on the issue between DEFRA and the devolved nations was improved.

We’re disappointed at the lack of progress despite the clear evidence and need for packaging as litter to be addressed.

In June 2024 we published a report on public attitudes in Scotland - ‘Tackling the litter emergency: making the case for packaging EPR to include ground and binned litter’  - that showed 90% of those asked believed litter is a problem and 71% agree with the general principle that producers should bear financial responsibility for managing packaging waste and litter.

Since then, we’ve continued to collect data, both public polling, citizen science and technical survey data. 

In 2024 our technical survey data identified that 42.7% of sites had at least one item that was in scope for pEPR regulations, and that 18.6% of litter counted nationally was in scope.  We will be publishing data on the 2025 results in the summer and expect to report strong trending evidence.  Data that supports the need for further action to tackle the challenges of packaging litter in high population density areas and in our least affluent communities.  Litter removal and behaviour change action that could be funded through monetary contributions from producers under pEPR.

Our unpublished Upstream Battle® citizen science data from 107 surveys carried out across Scotland, between December 2024 and February 2025, shows:

• Three out of the top seven litter items recorded nationally were in scope for pEPR regulations. (plastic snack packets (18.5%), drinks cans (6.8%) and plastic bottles (5.2%).
• Plastic snack packets (from crisps and confectionary) were the top recorded item found in 87% of surveys, accounting for 1,980 items.
• Drinks cans (3rd) and plastic bottles (7th) were high in the top ten items recorded both nationally and regionally.

Paul Wallace, Head of Operations commented, “We understand that producers of packaging don’t cause litter in our cities and streets, it is the people that buy the product and carelessly discard it who cause the problem. 

“But, if 71% of people agree with the general principle that producers should bear financial responsibility for management packaging waste and litter, then there is definitely a case for producers to be part of the solution.

“The way out of Scotland’s litter emergency is sustained investment over a number of years facilitating and supporting collaborative action.  We will never improve the situation if we stick with the status quo – producing a plethora of packaging, not shifting to more sustainable options, doing clean up after clean up and failing to address the behaviours that lie behind our litter shame.  We all deserve to live in communities that are clean, safe and litter free – producers, alongside local authorities, duty bodies and individuals themselves, need to step up to the plate and do more.

“This is why we remain committed to calling for the UK Government to stay on track and progress regulations, we also ask that producers design out problematic packaging, particularly snack packaging and confectionery, or take financial responsibility for its destruction and support litter education, infrastructure and waste management.”

We will continue to raise the issue through the media, and with other environmental organisations, to ensure that we collaborate and call for consistent action.  We’re also keen to work with the packaging producers and distributors as well as commercial businesses to develop solutions that work for us all, particularly as we all face challenges in the current fiscal climate.

Now ahead of Spring Clean Scotland we’re asking people to get out and do litter picks, and when they have capacity, to survey the litter found, to help us collect a broader data set which we can then use to push for action to ensure packaging producers take some responsibility for litter generated by consumers and users of their products.

Want to know more about our thoughts on packaging and polluter pays opportunities – then check out the blog from our friendly sweet wrapper - Rustle talks, polluter pays | Keep Scotland Beautiful

You can read our 2024 report at www.keepscotlandbeautiful.org/our_reports and we plan to share this year’s findings in the early summer.