The report begins with the column: Have we forgotten the consumer on the road? Where Johanna Ragnartz, CEO of Håll Sverige Rent, questions the lack of communication efforts in the shift from single to multi-use.
The entire report is available as of today in Håll Sverige Rent’s press room, at hsr.se and attached to this press release. Feel free to quote, but indicate the source.
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Here are some highlights from the report
The trend points to the fact that filth is decreasing, while other litter is not
Pimps are by far the most common litter in urban environments, and also in most other environments where Håll Sverige Rent conducts litter measurements. As part of implementing the EU’s single-use plastic directive, Sweden has set a goal that the littering of fags should have been reduced by 50% by 2030 compared to 2023. We are already seeing a decreasing trend in our litter measurements when it comes to fags.
In 2023, there were 28 larger urban areas that measured the litter with Håll Sverige Rent. The diagram below shows how the development for the number of litter boxes and other rubbish per 10 square meters has looked in 2018–2023 in the urban areas. It is important to bear in mind that there may be different municipalities that measure the litter in different years, but the trend that litter is decreasing while other litter is not is quite clear.
Why are the pussies reduced to trash then?
Of course, it’s hard to know for sure, but we think various things may have played a role:
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The proportion of people who smoke daily has decreased in Sweden since 2004
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Possibly some of the smokers switch to vape and snus
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Social norms around both smoking and hooking up on the street have started to change
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The ban on smoking in public came in July 2019
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Since January 1, 2022, prostitutes are subject to fines for littering offences
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Awareness that it is forbidden to throw one’s dick in a public place has increased
Take a look at more statistics and analyzes about the trend of farts on pages 6–9 of the Garbage Report 2024.
A record number of people are fined for littering
In 2023, 339 people were fined for littering. This is an increase of 17% compared to the previous year, a threefold increase compared to five years ago and the highest number of fines issued since the litter fine was introduced in 2011.
Read more about the litter fine on page 39 of the Litter Report 2024.
The national litter survey shows that there is litter almost everywhere
In 2023, Håll Sverige Rent was commissioned by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency to carry out a national litter survey. The national measurement must be carried out every two years and form the basis for the calculation of how much money certain producers must compensate the municipalities with for cleaning up the products. The litter measurements must also be used to follow up on the goal that the littering of certain single-use plastic products must have been reduced by 50% from the year 2030 compared to the year 2023.
Of all the random coordinate points where litter was measured in the city centers, a total of 2376 points, only 2.6% were litter-free. The litter consists of 90% disposable products and the most common litter is cigarette butts.
To understand how much rubbish is involved, we have recalculated it to a fictitious example.
You pass so much rubbish on your way to work
Imagine that you have 1 km to work and that you walk that distance along a sidewalk or footpath that is about 2 meters wide. Along that stretch, based on the results of the national survey, you would pass almost 1000 (973) items of litter, so roughly one item of litter per meter.
What kind of junk would you see then? Well, you would pass 466 cigarettes, 170 snuff tubes, 84 candy wrappers or other soft plastic wrappers, 14 loose corks or caps, 8 straws, 7 disposable food boxes and lids for these, 3 disposable cups and lids for these, 2 plastic bags, 2 deposit cans and 2 wet wipes. Of the nearly 1000 pieces of trash you pass, over 600 of them would be single-use plastic products.
Read more about the results from the national litter measurement on pages 20–24 of the Litter Report 2024.
What has happened to the banned and regulated rubbish?
In Sweden, around ten plastic products have been banned in recent years, including plastic cups, cotton buds and plastic straws.
Litter measurements at a couple of locations show that, for example, plastic straws seem to have decreased in recent years. However, Håll Sverige Clean still finds some straws, both plastic and paper, in the litter measurements that are made.
In litter measurements made in Sälen, Åre and Vemdalen, we can see a big difference between 2022 and 2023 when plastic straws/wraps for straws have decreased by 87%. Paper straws have not increased to the same extent as plastic straws have decreased, rather they have become fewer. What it depends on we can only guess. Maybe the paper suction cups will have time to dissolve in the snow before spring cleaning? Are straws used to a lesser extent now? Or have people gotten better at throwing straws in the trash? It is difficult to know, but it is in any case gratifying that plastic straws have decreased so much.
Replacing plastic with paper does not solve the littering problem
Paper breaks down more easily than plastic in nature, but it is still an environmental cost to produce something that should only be used for a few minutes and then thrown away. Furthermore, littering has not only environmental consequences, but also social and economic ones. Replacing plastic products with another material but continuing with the same behavior is not sustainable.
Read more about the prohibited and regulated litter – straws, confetti, cotton buds, corks, mugs, lunch boxes and plastic bags – on pages 12–19 of the Litter Report 2024.
Tags: Today release Litter Report latest news littering Sweden
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