Deposit and Return Scheme for Scotland Regulations 2020 (as amended): Fairer Scotland Duty assessment

Reduced littering

61. The Scottish Household Survey 2022 identified that those living in the 20% most deprived areas were more likely to say neighbourhood problems, such as litter and graffiti, were ‘common’ than those in the least deprived (72% compared with 39%).^[45] This was further supported by the Scottish Litter Survey in 2023.^[46] Those living in less affluent areas are significantly more likely to view litter as a problem locally. 83% of those in the least affluent neighbourhoods viewed litter as a problem locally. This compares to 56% in the most affluent areas.

62. In the report ‘How Clean Are Our Streets?’^[47], ‘poorer litter outcomes’ (more significant presence of litter) are more prominent in urban based local authority areas, with 14% of sites significantly impacted by litter compared to 6% in rural-based local authority areas. Furthermore, in areas of highest deprivation, close to a quarter of sites (23%) recorded a significant presence of litter compared to only 3% in the areas of least deprivation.

63. In 2024^[48], across Scotland 87% of people agreed that litter is a problem, with 43% believing that litter in general has increased in their local area in the past year. The most common types of litter identified were food containers (71% of respondents), plastic drinks bottles (66%), cigarette butts (65%) and drinks cans (63%).

64. The implementation of DRS should bring considerable benefits with respect to reduced littering and increased recycling of high-quality materials. This represents a positive impact for those most likely to be negatively impacted by litter disamenity. Additionally, local authorities are likely to benefit from reduced litter clean-up costs.^[49]