Hands up if litter makes you embarrassed of your neighbourhood?

The scale of Scotland’s massive litter problem, and the impact it has on how people feel about their communities has been revealed by environmental charity Keep Scotland Beautiful at an annual networking seminar held today (29 October) in Glasgow.

The findings of two reports have been released, revealing stats that are literally too important to ignore.

The hard-hitting truth from the charity’s latest public perception survey, conducted by the Diffley Partnership, included revelations that:

• 73% agree litter makes spaces unsafe for children;
• 67% agree litter makes them embarrassed of their neighbourhood; and
• around nine in ten people in Scotland view litter as a problem across the country (88%).

The charity has also published findings from the only long-term litter data set in Scotland which shows that less than 30% of sites visited by surveyors were completely free of litter polluting them and worryingly one in 12 were significantly littered.

Once again both public polling and technical data highlight that Scotland’s least affluent communities and people in urban areas are impacted more by litter and poor local environmental quality.

Barry Fisher, Chief Executive of Keep Scotland Beautiful, said: “Litter continues to be a dirty topic. Our data provides clear and unambiguous evidence that people in Scotland believe litter makes them feel embarrassed and unsafe, damages the reputation of local areas and leads to other anti-social behaviours, in addition to damaging nature and our environment.

“While it is concerning that people feel litter is more common this year than last, our research continues to show strong support for preventative measures to tackle this issue, demonstrating the public desire for us to call for greater, more urgent funding and action to tackle Scotland’s litter emergency as we approach the 2026 Scottish election and our flagship mass litter pick - Spring Clean.

“We claim to be a proud nation. The way we treat our country suggests otherwise. We must prioritise the prevention and eradication of litter, and we will continue to urge national and local government and industry to work with us to create a future where litter-free spaces are the norm, rather than the exception.”

Broadcaster and charity ambassador Stephen Jardine commented: “As I travel the country listening to people debate the issues affecting Scotland and beyond it’s clear that underlying the topical issues of health care and the cost-of-living crisis, the quality of people’s communities’ matter to them. 

“Litter, dog fouling, graffiti and flytipping are all indicators of a poor-quality environment – complaints about these crimes are common, they rumble on in daily conversations, but the seriousness of the wider impacts are often overlooked. 

“Keep Scotland Beautiful has revealed just now much good quality local environments matter to people – now we need to listen and ensure tackling litter achieves the priority it deserves.”

Download the full Scottish Litter Survey 2025 report and the How Clean Are Your Streets? Report at www.keepscotlandbeautiful.org/our-reports or visit the data dashboard to interpret the stats at a more specific level.

Ends

Headline stats from the Scottish Litter Survey 2025 – [Diffley Partnership]

67% agree litter makes them embarrassed of their neighbourhood.

73% agree litter makes spaces unsafe for children.

76% agree litter makes public spaces unsafe for animals.

Nine in ten people (88%) view litter as a problem across Scotland.

83% want for more action to be taken to prevent litter in their area.

83% want more action taken to clean up litter locally.

Headline stats from the Local Environment Audit Management System 2024/2025 [Keep Scotland Beautiful]

14,000+ sites surveyed recorded.

100,000+ items of litter counted.

29.3% of sites were litter free.

1 in 12 sites significantly littered, more than last year.

9 items were counted on average in the most littered 100m2 at each site.

41% of litter was smoking related.

28% of litter was food and drink related.

84.8% of sites surveyed in the most deprived communities were littered

60% of sites in the areas deemed least deprived were littered.