Keep Scotland Beautiful has declared a ‘litter emergency’ with political parties urged to make it a key issue ahead of the Holyrood electionMounting piles of waste in the Scottish capital as Edinburgh bin collection workers are on strike with the labor union asking for a minimum increase in the salary. Rubbish pile up outside the bins, while the overflowing bags and boxes spread rubbish on the street. On the litter bins many support stickers for the striking workers are seen. Rubbish including food waste has built up in the streets, while the city is having the Fringe Festival, one of the busiest times of year for the city with tourists across the world vising. Residents are being asked to keep their waste a little longer in the house. A major clean-up operation will start on Wednesday 31 August. According to Public Health Scotland, there will be public health impact from the bin strikes. Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom on August 29, 2022 (Photo by Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images)Littering peaked during Covid while strikes in 2022 saw rubbish pile up in Edinburgh(Image: Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Scotland is facing a litter emergency with the country recording twice as much rubbish discarded in the street as a decade ago. According to Keep Scotland Beautiful (KSB), 8.3% of locations across the nation are considered badly littered.

But the state of our streets vary massively across the country. Litter peaked during the Covid pandemic with the places with a “significant presence of litter” reaching 10%. In 202i, bin strikes saw rubbish pile up in Glasgow while Edinburgh faced a similar scenario during the festival in 2022.

The issue is “significantly worse” in deprived areas, while litter was “more frequently observed” in urban areas with 15.1% of high density residential areas being badly littered, according to KSB’s annual report into the issue.

Over 40% of litter in Scotland is related to smoking with 15.5% being paper related. Drinks related litter accounted for 11.9% while confectionary was 11.3%. Fast food was 5%, vaping 2.3%, and dog fouling 0.7%.

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The vast majority of litter, over 70%, is dropped by pedestrians. KSB has called on political parties to make littering a major issue at next year’s Scottish Parliament election.

The report states: “We have an opportunity to ensure that the next Scottish Parliament prioritises tackling litter and reducing waste and makes significant and sustained financial investment to do so.

Mounting piles of waste in the Scottish capital as Edinburgh bin collection workers are on strike with the labor union asking for a minimum increase in the salary. Rubbish pile up outside the bins, while the overflowing bags and boxes spread rubbish on the street. On the litter bins many support stickers for the striking workers are seen. Rubbish including food waste has built up in the streets, while the city is having the Fringe Festival, one of the busiest times of year for the city with tourists across the world vising. Residents are being asked to keep their waste a little longer in the house. A major clean-up operation will start on Wednesday 31 August. According to Public Health Scotland, there will be public health impact from the bin strikes. Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom on August 29, 2022 (Photo by Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images)Littering peaked during Covid while strikes in 2022 saw rubbish pile up in Edinburgh(Image: Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

“Alongside polling data which shows just how embarrassed people are about the littered states of their communities, the data in this report will be used to evidence the need for systematic change in the way we view litter – not as something we tolerate and isn’t important – but as something unacceptable, and far more indicative of the disconnection people have from places they should value.”

KSB says its data is to be used inform councils and decision makers about patterns, reports The Times. But using the analysis in its Local Environmental Audit and Management System (LEAMS) tool, it is possible to rank Scotland’s council areas, apart from Moray which does not provide data, by which ones have the most littered sites.

It shows that in 2024/25, Clackmannanshire was the dirtiest place in Scotland in terms of litter, and Orkney the cleanest. Perth and Kinross was the cleanest area on the mainland. See the full league table below:

Scotland’s most littered region

The figures are based on the percentage of sites where there is either a “widespread distribution of litter with minor accumulations,” or areas that are “heavily littered with significant accumulations”. The other areas are considered to be free of litter or “predominantly free of litter”.

  1. Clackmannanshire – 17.6%
  2. Dundee – 16.8%
  3. West Dunbartonshire – 15.2%
  4. Glasgow – 13.7%
  5. Falkirk – 13.4%
  6. West Lothian – 12.5%
  7. Midlothian – 12.3%
  8. East Dunbartonshire – 11.6%
  9. Edinburgh – 10.8%
  10. Aberdeen – 10.7%
  11. North Lanarkshire – 9.9%
  12. North Ayrshire – 9.7%
  13. Stirling – 9.1%
  14. Inverclyde – 8.9%
  15. Renfrewshire – 8.3%
  16. South Ayrshire – 7.7%
  17. Western Isles – 7.6%
  18. East Ayrshire – 7.4%
  19. East Lothian – 7.4%
  20. South Lanarkshire – 7.1%
  21. Angus – 5.9%
  22. Aberdeenshire – 5.3%
  23. East Renfrewshire – 5.1%
  24. Argyll and Bute – 5.0%
  25. Fife – 4.7%
  26. Highland – 4.1%
  27. Dumfries and Galloway – 3.6%
  28. Scottish Borders – 3.6%
  29. Shetland – 3.6%
  30. Perth and Kinross – 3.5%
  31. Orkney – 0.6%

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