Research: Focusing just on particular items in litter will not solve the problem

Research conducted by Keep Scotland Beautiful shows that focusing just on particular items in litter will not solve the problem. What is needed is a comprehensive approach that targets everything from cigarette ends and chewing gum (the two most frequently littered items making up 39.4% and 45.1% of litter respectively) to drinks containers (6.4%), food packaging (4.6%), lottery slips (0.1%) and rubber bands (0.3%).
The weight of litter is usually irrelevant because, for example, 40 grams of plastic could be either 1 bottle or 12 yogurt pots. It is essential to know the number of items that must be picked up, and how difficult that task is (Press Release INCPEN, 18 March 2014).
Click here for the press release.
Click here for the research report (542 kB).

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