Spring Clean Scotland: Tackling Scotland’s litter problem

Of all the environmental challenges we face in Scotland, litter is one of the most in-your-face. It impacts every community and can be seen alongside roads, in parks, on beaches and even on top of our majestic hills. We claim to be a nation proud of our scenery and heritage but the actions of many of our fellow Scots, and some visitors, say the opposite. Each piece of litter indicates a lack of pride in our country, a lack of care for our wildlife and a lack of respect for those who live here.

Keep Scotland Beautiful has declared a litter emergency. Over the past four years, an overwhelming majority of people in Scotland – around nine in ten – have consistently viewed litter as a problem across the country, with 43% believing that litter in general has become more common in their local areas over the past year.

Thankfully, there is evidence that positive action is being taken both by people across Scotland and by local and national government to tackle our litter problem. From the National Litter and Flytipping Strategy to key policies such as the Deposit Return Scheme, the Circular Economy Bill and Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging coming into play over the years to come, there is plenty to be optimistic about.

And, in less than two months, we will welcome the Scottish Government’s ban on the sale of single-use vapes, the fastest-growing litter item.

And people care. Our annual Spring Clean Scotland is the country’s biggest mass volunteer litter picking event. It brings thousands of people together from all sections of society to remove litter from the places that matter to them. To date, the 2025 campaign has seen activity logged by more than 30,000 people (and still counting).

We couldn’t inspire this action without the support of all 32 Scottish local authorities who, despite facing challenges in terms of resources, help communities, schools and businesses by providing litter picking equipment or advice, collecting and disposing of waste and promoting the opportunity to get involved.

Spring Clean Scotland is not just a mobilisation of volunteers to collect litter. It is also about creating a sense of empowered ownership of our country and gathering evidence that can be used to lever change, attract funding and influencing policy.

A litter pick can be fun. It helps improve our sense of community cohesion, it gives us a sense of belonging and feeling of wellbeing. It can also focus minds on the waste we generate, our own consumption, and encourage us to take simple steps towards becoming more sustainable.

Without the commitment of people volunteering their time across the country things could be far worse, clean-up costs for councils could be higher. And we know that litter-free and well-maintained areas are considerably less likely to attract more litter, which is why it is so important that clean-up activities take place throughout the year alongside prevention and behaviour change campaigns.

We unapologetically continue to call for a more strategic and collaborative approach to addressing our litter problem, but we can’t do it alone.

Please do get in touch if you would like to discuss how we can help your local authority with waste prevention, community engagement, and litter interventions and campaigns. Let’s keep Scotland beautiful together.

Visit our website or email me here.