Litter is costing taxpayers £100 million every year, Jenny Haworth discovers an East-West divide when it comes to agreeing a policy to deal with the problem

Published on Wednesday 14 January 2009 21:58

A DEJECTED-LOOKING council worker armed with a black bag and brush tackles the never-ending task of trying to sweep away the piles of cigarette butts that litter one of the busiest streets in Edinburgh.

It will take even more of an effort to remove the thousands of flattened lumps of chewing gum, which layer the pavements along Leith Walk.

Nearby, a flier blows in the breeze next to a litter bin, chocolate bar wrappers flap around, and the odd water bottle, newspaper, cigarette packet, cash machine receipt, discarded bus ticket and carrier bag add to the unsightly mess.

One man flicks his cigarette butt on the ground just feet from a bin. He doesn't give a moment's thought to stubbing it out on the ashtray on top of the bin which he passes by a second later.

It is an act that, theoretically, could see him facing a 50 on-the-spot fine, if he was caught.

However, an investigation by The Scotsman reveals few councils are using their powers, even though cleaning up litter costs councils an estimated 100million a year across Scotland.

Max McNally, 35, strolling along Leith Walk yesterday, said he was aware that is was possible to be fined for dropping litter, but it does not stop him discarding his cigarette on the pavement.

"I always look over my shoulder now before I do it," he said. "I do think it is right to fine people for dropping litter and it certainly makes you think.

"I do try to do it less but I'm far from perfect and I have a bit of a blind spot when it comes to cigarette butts."

Although Edinburgh is kept relatively clean by the army of street cleaners who sweep away the mess, critics say this does not tackle the root cause of the problem.

In only one Scottish city – Glasgow – discarding rubbish on the ground would be likely to result in the culprit pounced upon by a litter warden and handed a 50 fine.

More than 11,000 fines have been issued to offenders by about 50 litter wardens since the launch of the Clean Glasgow campaign in February, 2007.

About 60 per cent of those have been paid. Non-payment could leave the litter lout with a criminal record.

Despite the massive effort by Glasgow's litter wardens, there were still signs of the problem yesterday in Argyll Street, one of the city's busiest shopping areas with the odd crisp packet and fast food wrapper on the ground.

However, there were also signs the council's tough tactics were beginning to hit home.

Smokers stood around litter bins, taking their turns to stub out their cigarettes.

One man even stopped to pick up a plastic bag left lying on the ground, and two of the city's infamous litter wardens maintained a visible presence on the streets.

Betty Sharpe, of Cardonald, said she was very aware of the possibility of being fined, and thought as word spread it was making a difference. "I think it certainly has had a noticeable effect on the state of the streets in the city," she said.

Alison Ramsey of Maryhill agreed: "I never used to use the bins, but since they've brought in the fines, I always drop my cigarette ends in them.

"All my friends use them now too, it's just something everybody is very aware of."

Donna Niven, programme manager for Keep Scotland Beautiful, thinks if other councils followed Glasgow's lead and handed out more fines, word would spread and people would be less likely to drop litter.

"People just don't know anyone who has been fined and that's one of the big issues," she said. "In Glasgow at the moment you can't miss the fact that you can now get fined for littering."

The campaign by Glasgow City Council has, however, attracted a considerable amount of controversy.

It has been described as heavy handed, particularly because children have been targeted.

One shopper, who wished to remain anonymous because she worked for the council, was far from supportive.

"It was a very big deal for us when it was introduced, but a friend of my mother received a fine just before Christmas for dropping a cigarette end," she said. "She didn't even get a chance to pick it up, the guy simply walked up from behind her and handed her a littering ticket. She's a pensioner and 50 is a lot for an elderly person.

"Personally, I think the council's energies could be better used elsewhere than fining people in this manner."

And a walk up Renfield Street illustrates that the message has not reached everyone. Stepping out of a supermarket, a man produced a carton of milk from a bag, pulled open the plastic seal and threw it into the road without a second look.

Colin MacKenzie, spokesman for Glasgow City Council, is clear the campaign is not going to work over night.

However, he said they were "unrepentant" over taking such a strong approach.

"We've always been very, very conscious that it takes years not weeks to shift people's attitudes towards litter," he said.

However, he thinks already there are signs the tough approach is starting to work. In the spring, wardens targeted secondary schools in the city, and caught 184 young people over eight weeks.

When the same tactic was carried out over the winter, just 23 youths were caught. The young people were given the option of carrying out voluntary work instead of paying the fine.

The litter wardens work in pairs, and before they hit the streets, they are trained to deal with any angry response.

They do not have the power of arrest but do have a warrant card, which allows them to hand out fines.

Mr MacKenzie said most of the people fined are either "embarrassed or repentant".

"They are trained in dealing with potentially hostile situations – but we don't expect people to put themselves in the line of danger," he said.

Edinburgh City Council insisted it was just as concerned about littering, but preferred to use a different approach, which involved education and awareness raising.

Councillor Robert Aldridge, environment leader, said the number of fines issued so far during the current financial year had increased substantially – up to 658 since 1 April.

However, he added: "While fines can be an effective deterrent, our focus is more about encouraging people to take greater pride in our beautiful city and reminding them of our collective responsibility to dispose of litter responsibly.

"We recognise that making sure that people don't drop litter in the first place is crucial to making Edinburgh as clean as possible."

&#149 Additional reporting by Craig Brown