Marine litter information: EIR release

Information requested

Can you provide any statistics or other information that records how many tyres are washed up on our beaches, the cost of disposal and how you are working with the marine industry and ports to reduce this antiquated practise.

Response

As the information you have requested is ‘environmental information’ for the purposes of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EIRs), we are required to deal with your request under those Regulations. We are applying the exemption at section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), so that we do not also have to deal with your request under FOISA.

This exemption is subject to the ‘public interest test’. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption, because there is no public interest in dealing with the same request under two different regimes. This is essentially a technical point and has no material effect on the outcome of your request.

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested. This is because the Scottish Government does not record or hold any data specifically in relation to the number of tyres being washed up onto beaches, or the subsequent costs incurred to dispose of said tyres.

I can also confirm that the Scottish Government is not working with ports and harbours specifically on the use of tyres, however our focus in working with them is about improving waste management of fishing and aquaculture gear.

Therefore, we are refusing your request under the exception at regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs. Under the terms of the exception at regulation 10(4)(a) (information not held), the Scottish Government is not required to provide information which it does not have.

This exception is subject to the ‘public interest test’. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exception. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exception.

While we recognise that there may be some public interest in statistics relating to the number of tyres being washed up onto beaches and the subsequent cost of disposing said tyres, we cannot provide information which we do not hold.

Wider guidance on the Environmental Information regime can be found in the Key Concepts section under ‘Information Not Held’ and ‘The Public Interest Test’ in the attached Scottish Information Commissioner Briefings and Guidance document. Further guidance on the public interest test can also be found on page 8 of the Scottish Information Commissioner guidance.

However, you may find the Marine litter section on the Scottish Government website of interest to you.

Additionally, you may wish to note that any beach litter data that we use is collected by the Marine Conservation Society.

Whilst tyres are not a product that is of particular focus, the information that is held by the Marine Conservation Society (MCS) contains two litter categories where tyres are included:

•  Rubber: Tyres & engine belts
•  Rubber: Tyres used as fenders

When consulting the MCS data, it would appear that on all Scottish beaches that were surveyed by them, between 2000 and 2024 there were 720 items under the second category (Rubber: Tyres used as fenders) which equate to about 30 per year.

In relation to the costs associated with disposing of tyres in the form of marine litter you may wish to approach the relevant port authorities, harbours, Local Authorities, local councils as they may hold some of the information you are requesting.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.