A SCOTTISH government body has conceded that data was “insufficient” after it sparked headlines claiming that Scotland has the most litter-strewn beaches in the UK.
Earlier this week, Environmental Standards Scotland – a non-ministerial department of the Scottish Government – published a report and said that “the most recent assessment of beach litter indicates that levels in Scotland are worse than the rest of the UK with 919 items found per 100 metres of shore”.
The body said this compared with 585 items per 100m in England, 258 in Northern Ireland, and 103 in Wales.
This led to headlines in the media which read “Nightmare for tourists as UK's 'most beautiful' country also has the filthiest beaches” and “Scotland's beaches 'dirtiest in UK' with two bays singled out for their litter”.
However, a closer reading of the report revealed that Environmental Standards Scotland was using data collected from just two Scottish beaches – Cramond Beach in Edinburgh and Lunderston Bay in Inverclyde.
Not one of Scotland’s famed beaches in the islands or north coast was included.
Environmental Standards Scotland did note that its report was based only on data from the two Central Belt beaches – as well as just 12, four, and three from Northern Ireland, England and Wales respectively.
However, some media reports left this information out altogether.
Asked about its methodology, and whether the data would truly support the claim that Scotland has the “dirtiest” beaches in the UK, Environmental Standards Scotland conceded to The National that data was insufficient.
The government body said: "The report references Defra’s annual beach litter abundance report published in 2023, which offers the most up to date data available on beach litter in the UK.
“Our report specifies the median number of survey sites from each of the devolved nations that are included in the assessment and acknowledges that litter data at a Scotland-level is insufficient to provide a robust and representative assessment of Scottish beach litter.”
"However, this finding only comprises a section of the report. The wider report assesses the key sources of marine litter across Scotland, taking evidence from both statutory monitoring and the scientific literature relevant to Scotland.
“The focus of the report does not compare Scotland with the rest of the UK. It focuses on the key sources and effectiveness of legislation governing marine litter in Scotland."
Responding to the ESS report earlier in the week, a Scottish Government spokesperson said: "Scotland was the first country in the UK to implement a ban on some of the most commonly littered single-use plastic products, but it’s clear more needs to be done to move from our throw-away culture towards a more circular economy.”
