Yr Wyddfa, April 24
State Of Our Trails Report
Over the last five years 3,000+ people have removed over 285,000 items of single-use pollution from places they love.
The State of Our Trails Report brings together their contributions in a one-of-a-kind annual Report on the state of terrestrial pollution on recreational trail ecosystems in the UK.
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There is no other Report like this in the UK.
We are studying the prevalence, distribution, composition and impacts of single-use pollution - or what you know as litter - on recreational trails.
This Report is not merely a collection of data, but a reflection of the thousands of people who make up our community, and their commitment to protect the wild places they love.
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​​​Latest Report published November 2024
Together the Trash Free Trails Community Have
Removed and Surveyed
285,206 items
Weighing
4,624 kg
Covering
6,793 km
Achieved by
3,261 Volunteers
Top Brands
There is still up to 9.2 million items of single-use pollution on UK trails
Laid end to end they would stretch further than the 970km from Lands End to John O'Groats
Where Policy Meets The Trail:
The Deposit Return Scheme Special Report
November 2024
It's estimated by the UK Gov that 12 billion plastic drinks bottles, nine billion cans and five million glass bottles are used in the UK every year. But less than 70% of them are recycled.
To create a Trash Free Future we need ‘No Brainer Policy Change’ - since 2023 we have championed several policies that be believe fit the bill. One is the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) on drinks containers.
More than 40 countries have already successfully implemented their own DRS, with the best designed seeing return rates of up to 98%.
For Trash Free Trails, 'No Brainer Policy Change' refers to policies that will enable our trails to thrive. This includes
- An ‘all-in' Deposit Return Scheme
- Extended Producer Responsibility for single-use packaging
- Implementation of the Recommendations of the High Ambition Coalition (HAC) made up of over 50 governments to end plastic pollution by 2040
- Ban disposable vapes with immediate effect
'No
Brainer Policy Change'
'No
Brainer Policy Change'
Our volunteers have found single-use drinks bottles and cans on 94% of trails. DRS-eligible drinks containers make up 33% of the items we’re finding — this policy could eradicate those items.
That’s 33% less trash.
This Special Edition Report shares our perspective on DRS. Our research has identified it as one of the most beneficial policies for our wild places and their wellbeing.
So the only question we’re left asking is:
what are we waiting for?
With a Deposit Return Scheme we could eradicate up to 33% of single-use pollution from our trails, overnight.
That's
14 less items per kilometre
More than 3 million less single-use bottles and cans on UK public rights of way
46 fewer single-use pollution items to remove per trail clean
Stirling, April 24
This mouse would not have died if we had a Deposit Return Scheme
We weren't planning to release a Report on the Deposit Return Scheme. But our volunteers kept coming to us time and again with evidence of animal interactions with single-use pollution: everything from chew marks to nesting, all the way to examples like the above - the remains of animals trapped inside drinks containers.
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Since 2023 we have doubled our efforts to monitor and understand the diverse ways single-use pollution can affect flora and fauna.
This is the Environmental Case for a Deposit Return Scheme. Below, we outline our research into these often devastating impacts of our trash.
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We already know a Deposit Return Scheme will have social and economic benefits for us. Here we showcase the ecological benefits a DRS will have for trail ecosystems, and those that reside within them.
Who else will be a voice for our trails?
The Environmental Case for a Deposit Return Scheme
Single-use drinks containers cause foliage bleaching, and artificially dry forest floor conditions. This can lead to forest fires.
8% reported at least one animal death due to interaction with single-use pollution
Significant numbers of animals found dead in drinks containers are keystone mammal species
About Our Data
Through the State of Our Trails Research Programme we are committed to scientific accuracy and transparency. Sharing methods is a core principle of the scientific process; it’s also what will enable us to work together to achieve a Trash Free Future. We also believe everyone, everywhere, can produce robust data about single-use pollution on their trails.
The nature of citizen science means balancing multiple variables and datasets, and we believe in being transparent about how we’ve analysed our data. In true maths exam style we've here ‘show our workings’, so you can learn more about how we crunch the numbers to achieve accuracy.
Total Items Per Kilometre
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285,554 items of SUP recorded during 985 individual Trash Counts and Trash Surveys, along 6793 km of trails.
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By dividing the number of SUP items by kms covered we are able to produce an average (42) number of items per km of trails
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We are then able to check the accuracy of this by comparing Trash Survey with the Trash Count:
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257,629 of these were recorded during Trash Surveys along 6140 km of trails = 42 per km
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27,472 of these were recorded during Trash Counts along 653 km of trails = 42 per km
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Trash Surveying and DRS Containers
Only 687 of Trash Surveys provided a detailed breakdown of SUP. The total of each individual SUP category came to 95,096. We've used this more accurate number for SUP category and type calculations, including the 33% figure on the quantity of DRS eligible items, this being 32,148 of items surveyed.
Animal Interaction Calculations
476 Citizen Scientists responded to the animal interaction question on their Trash Survey submissions, accounting for 193,802 SUP items. 142 answered 'yes' enabling our figure of 30%. Of these 36 reported 'yes' to observing an instance of death. 7.6% of all Trash Surveys found at least one dead animal.
If you'd like to speak to us about our research, email heather@trashfreetrails.org