A Citizen’s Solution To Scotland’s Litter Problem

Policy Institute
Series: Rural Affairs No. 1 August 2005
By Stuart Crawford

Synopsis

Scotland is blighted by litter. Local authorities spend £65 million a year cleaning it up, but 81% of our streets are still affected. Adopt-a-Highway is a scheme which was started in Texas and has spread across the USA and to Australia, Japan and Canada. Local organisations sponsor a stretch of road. They promise to keep it clean in exchange for equipment and permission to erect signs on the roadside recognising their sponsorship. The potential benefits are attractive: rubbish collection costs, and therefore local taxes, can fall. Sponsors have a new way to market themselves. Good citizenship is encouraged. Overall, rubbish collection becomes more effective. Similar schemes already exist in Scotland. They lack the optimum incentives, but do show that Adopt-a-Highway is entirely feasible in this country. So far the Executive has resisted the scheme. Instead, ministers should champion Adopt-a-Highway to local authorities and other bodies responsible for clearing litter.

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