Dropping litter costs the Scottish economy £73 million annually, and £10 billion across Europe.
A major summit is being held in Brussels today to look at ways of tackling the problem. The summit will bring together a wide range of stakeholders from NGO's, the Public Sector and global private sector companies to identify the cause and propose solutions to Europe's litter crisis. It will hear evidence of the scale of the problem, and look for ways in which member states can work together to change behaviour and clear up the mess.
Derek Roberston, Chief Executive of Keep Scotland Beautiful, President of the Clean Europe Network and Chair of the Stop Litter Now! summit said:
"This £10bn cost equates to over £20 for every man, woman and child across the EU - a shocking statistic, and one which should startle policy-makers into long-overdue action. We welcome the European Commission’s waste directive reference to litter for the first time, that is a significant step forward, but there is still not enough emphasis on litter prevention.
"We can all argue about who pays the cost of cleaning up, but what is vital is that we prioritise the creation of clean communities in the first place. We want to build and strengthen a culture of cleanliness across Europe.
"In Scotland, we want our country to be the cleanest country in Europe by 2020 and build a litter free Europe by 2030. With 500,000 people in Scotland having already played their part in changing their local environment - our domestic Clean Up Scotland Campaign is genuinely showing the way ahead to the rest of Europe."
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