Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform Committee

Meeting date: Tuesday, June 5, 2018

Official Report 767KB pdf

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Subordinate Legislation

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Code of Practice on Litter and Refuse (Scotland) 2018 (SG/2018/81)

The fourth item on the agenda is consideration of the Code of Practice on Litter and Refuse (Scotland) 2018. I invite comments on the instrument.

I welcome the updated code of practice on litter and refuse. I abhor people throwing litter on the street and I encourage people to put it in bins. I have encouraged my kids, and now my grandchildren, to deposit their litter correctly. I also abhor people throwing litter out of their cars when going along motorways and bypasses.

We are told that, previously,

“resources were focused on clear up rather than preventing the problem ... which is at odds with recommended prevention approaches”.

Councils should now prevent people from littering, encourage people to deposit their litter in bins and ensure that street cleansing is done meticulously. When I go to other countries, I see streets that are absolutely clean. Some streets that you walk down in Scotland require a bit of extra care, and that is particularly the case for my constituents and other residents in the central belt. I encourage everyone to work towards the new code of practice on litter and refuse.

I particularly welcome the new approach that is highlighted in the first duty, which is specifically about behaviour change and ensuring that litter is not dropped in the first place, rather than simply the process of collection. I am pleased to see an indicator on improving the state of Scotland’s marine environment, which was not in the previous iteration of the code. I welcome the code and I am supportive of it.

Likewise, I welcome the revised code. It is working at the right end, which is about prevention first rather than dealing with the consequences. However, I seek clarity on organisations that are contributing towards a litter problem that the public sector has to pick up. If a local authority manages a park that is right next to a McDonald’s and there is litter everywhere, there is obviously a duty on the local authority to ensure that the park is clean and to provide appropriate bins, but what is the role or contribution of that other organisation, which is driving a lot of the production of the waste in the first place? Given the polluter-pays principle, it would be good to get further clarity from the Government about how it is approaching that side of the equation. Obviously, we do not want to put undue burden on public authorities when the problems are being created by other organisations.

It seems reasonable to write to the Government, although there are other fast-food outlets next to parks.

I welcome the report. Keep Scotland Beautiful has done great work with Dumfries and Galloway Council, taking controversial decisions to remove bins from lay-bys along the A75. It has also worked with Stena Line and P&O to address the issue.

I look forward to more innovative ideas coming from the council working with those organisations to try different things to change people’s behaviour on litter.

11:30  

As someone who picks up litter, both in Ayrshire and in Edinburgh, I encourage City of Edinburgh Council to empty the bins more regularly. Much of the problem in the Edinburgh area comes from bins that are overflowing and not emptied timeously.

I am sure that the council will take note of your comments.

I hope that the bins are not full of our speeches. [Laughter.]

I, too, very much welcome the code of practice. Should the committee put down a marker that we want to look at progress, perhaps in a year or 18 months from now, once the provisions have been in place, to see whether they have made a difference?

The other issue is enforcement. Mark Ruskell alluded to that. By enforcement, I do not mean that the local authority should pick up the tab for everyone else’s litter problem. Perhaps we need to look at additional powers—for example, for dealing with fast-food restaurants and others that do not make any effort to ensure that there are bins round about. I do not see why council tax payers should have to fork out for wealthy fast-food chains that are not doing anything to address the problem.

To be fair, some are active on that in the summer.

In the summer?

Donald, do you want to make a point?

I support what other members have said about the matter and the convener’s proposal to revisit it in a year and a half’s time.

I take it that the committee does not want to make any recommendation relating to the instrument. However, we will seek information along the lines that Mr Ruskell has suggested and note that the committee wishes to return to the issue in a year to 18 months’ time, to see what progress has been made.