Single-use survey – what did Scotland say?
The Scottish Government single-use beverage cup charge consultation is now live, giving an opportunity for organisations, businesses and the general public to feed into the policy proposal.
Perceptions of single-use items in Scotland
We commissioned a survey in July 2024 to measure current perceptions and opinions of people in Scotland to our consumption of single-use items, which as we know are environmentally damaging and often end up littering our cities, coasts and countryside.
In partnership with Savanta, we surveyed a nationally representative sample of 2080 adults and asked their thoughts on the impact of previous regulatory measures on tackling single-use items such as bans and charges, and what their views were on whether any further action was needed.
Survey results
The results from the survey were really encouraging in terms of perceived success of previous measures and support for introducing further measures in future.
- More than half of people in Scotland (56%) think more needs to be done to tackle single-use items.
- 56% also are in favour of additional measures to reduce single-use cups in particular
- Most believe previous measures have made a difference, with nearly two-thirds (63%) saying the carrier bag charge has had a positive effect and 58% saying the same of the single-use plastics ban.
- 60% of respondents said they would buy fewer drinks in single-use cups if these were charged for.
- 74% said a single-use cups charge would encourage them to use a reusable cup more.
