Litter and flytipping - the costs and the consequences
Scotland’s a beautiful place, blessed with breath-taking landscapes and iconic attractions. Sadly, we’re also stuck with a litter problem.
It’s impossible to ignore empty food cartons in the gutter, crisps bags blowing along the streets, or an old fridge dumped at the side of the road. But the true impact goes far beyond dirty streets, or the financial costs of clearing it all up.
Litter has social, environmental, economic, and health implications across Scotland. Many of them are being ignored because they're difficult to see. But they exist. We have the research to prove it.
The facts
15,000 tonnes
That’s a conservative estimate of the weight of litter dumped on our streets and open spaces every year.
250,000,000
That’s 250 million easily visible items – and it doesn’t even include cigarette butts or chewing gum (the expensive commonly littered items to clean up).
170 incidents a day
In Scotland there are around 170 flytipping incidents every day, involving an estimated 26,000 tonnes of waste each year.
£11 million
Flytipping on public land costs Scottish tax payers more than £11 million a year.
At least 50% of Scotland’s litter could be recycled, around half of that could be easily recycled if it was properly disposed of.
15,000 tonnes of litter is equivalent to:
2,777 Adult male Asian elephants
10,791 European passenger cars
200,000 Washing machines
What does this mean for Scotland?
There are lots of ways that this litter impacts on the people of Scotland, directly and indirectly.
Direct costs:
Scotland's local authorities spend over £46 million a year dealing with litter and flytipping
A further £4.5 million is spent on litter enforecement and education
Flytipping enforcement costs £2 million a year
That’s around £53 million ‘lost’ because people put their waste in the wrong place. And that money comes from people’s taxes. The message is simple: the less people litter, the less money we spend cleaning it up. And the more resources we have for improving our communities in other ways
Indirect costs:
Our research found that the indirect cost of Scotland's litter and flytipping problem is likely to exceed £25 million. And it’s not unreasonable to think that it could be much higher. But where do these indirect costs come from?
Social costs:
The impacts of litter on communities takes many different forms, seen and unseen. Litter affects the quality of life for everyone in the area.
banana peel graphic
Dirty streets
The Scottish Household Survey shows that litter is a common concern in Scottish neighbourhoods. 28% of people said rubbish or litter lying around was “very or fairly common”. 25% said they’ve experienced litter as a problem.
Negative perceptions
Litter can taint people’s perception of an area and reduce enjoyment of our towns, villages, and countryside.
Dropping house prices
