The Code of Practice on Litter and Refuse (Scotland) was revised and published in 2018. Through Zero Waste Scotland, over 60 engagement sessions were held with local authorities and other duty holders, and these included material on the importance of monitoring and evaluation.

Zero Waste Scotland has developed a new litter monitoring methodology and software solution that aligns with the revised Code of Practice on Litter and Refuse (Scotland) 2018. This will provide granular information on litter categories as well as including flytipping reporting functionality previously used in FlyMapper. This is undergoing final testing and will be implemented soon for duty holders and other land managers. Functionality will include spatial data to help inform the development of targeted interventions.

We have also supported the Upstream Battle Campaign led by Keep Scotland Beautiful which is developingf a citizen-based monitoring approach.

This question was looked at extensively in July 2013 in the Zero Waste Scotland report Scotland’s Litter Problem . This looked at both direct and indirect costs, and whether these are currently internalised or externalised. Elements of this work were revisited in 2017 as part of evidence assessment discussions around the introduction of Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme.

Zero Waste Scotland published a qualitative report in 2015 that sought to understand both perceptions of litter and attitudes towards litter to help inform and shape key behavioural interventions. Additionally, a short survey of public attitudes and behaviours in relation to litter and flytipping was commissioned in 2016 and the annual Scottish Household Survey provides a snapshot of public attitudes to littering in local areas.

We have recently provided grant funding to support Keep Scotland Beautiful (KSB) and Marine Conservation Society (MCS) volunteer-led clean ups and to provide clean, disinfected equipment for small group clean ups in locations across Scotland.

There have been 20 ‘Community Hubs’ set up by KSB, hosted by local organisations, providing kit to local volunteers and 30 sets of kit sent out by MCS to 30 volunteers groups in coastal areas across Scotland.

Previously, a number of community-based projects have been supported including providing funding of £650,000 between 2013-16 to support the Clean Up Scotland campaign led by Keep Scotland Beautiful. This included key targets to engage harder to reach communities and blackspots and to support action beyond the litter pick. In addition, over £1.5 million in grant funded projects was provided to communities and organisations through a range of initiatives. These are: Flytipping Small Grants Scheme, Recycle on the Go, Litter and Flytipping Community Action Fund, Community Options Grant Fund, Innovation Funds and Contextual Messaging Toolkit Communications Fund. These were administered by Zero Waste Scotland.

A recent report by Zero Waste Scotland suggests that the greenhouse gas emissions from the incineration of residual waste at Scottish energy from waste plants are on average lower than landfilling the same waste. That being said, in terms of environmental impact prevention, reuse and recycling are always preferable over energy recovery or disposal of waste as waste management options.

The most recent statistics shows that carbon emissions associated with Scotland’s household waste in 2019 dropped once again on the previous year to reach the lowest level since official recording began. These statistics are available here: https://www.sepa.org.uk/environment/waste/waste-data/waste-data-reporting/

The Social Housing Net Zero Heat Fund was opened for applications on 21 August 2020 with the closing date for applications on 18 December 2020, with funding awards being made in January 2021. As of 9 November 2020, there have been no applications submitted or approved, but please note that we would not expect there to be in receipt of a substantive number of applications at this stage with over a month left for organisations to apply.

We have received considerable interest in the fund, with over 50 enquiries from Registered Social Landlords, Local Authorities and Energy Supply Companies.

Information webinars and application support continue to be provided throughout the application window and we anticipate receiving a high number of applications for low carbon social housing projects.

Zero Waste Scotland has published advice on incentives to reduce littering through choice architecture and design in the report ‘More Carrot Less Stick’ .

In 2013, Zero Waste Scotland funded a number of ‘recycle and reward’ pilot projects to test the increase in recycling of single use drinks containers through offering incentives .

Prevention, reuse and recycling are always preferable waste management options, over energy recovery or disposal of waste.

We have ambitious targets to improve the way we manage materials by reducing waste, increasing recycling and keeping materials at a higher value for longer but still need capacity to dispose of residual waste while we make the transition to a circular economy in Scotland.

This year’s Programme for Government sets out an ambitious set of measures to help make it easier for households and businesses to support this goal, including the establishment of a £70 million fund to improve local authority recycling collection infrastructure. The Parliament has also now passed legislation to implement a deposit return scheme for Scotland which will help to boost recycling, and we are working with the other governments of the UK on reform of the packaging producer responsibility system to reduce waste and improve recycling.

A number of relevant projects in remote areas have been funded through the following funds:

• Litter and Flytipping Community Action Fund 2014-2015
• Flytipping Small Grants Scheme 2011-2013
• Recycle on The Go Infrastructure Fund

In addition, Zero Waste Scotland are the lead for flytipping on the Scottish Partnership Against Rural Crime, which includes inputting to regional partnerships against rural crime (PARCs) that focus on flytipping prevention.

In the Programme for Government 2020-21 we announced the establishment of a £70 recycling fund to improve local authority collection infrastructure, along with the development of a route map to achieving our 2025 recycling targets. We will work in partnership with COSLA and local authorities to develop and deliver the fund to ensure it supports further improvements in local recycling rates.

Alongside Zero Waste Scotland, we will provide a range of other support to local authorities to ensure high quality recycling, including evaluating the Household Recycling Charter, evaluating its supporting Code of Practice and supporting effective communications with householders.