FARMERS and landowners have had enough of the 'endless task' of clearing up other people's rubbish – the government must now take serious action to prevent flytipping in Scotland's countryside.

Rampant 'waste crime' in rural areas is starkly at odds with Scotland's reputation for leading on environmental issues, and threatens to be a national embarrassment when the eyes of the world turn here when the country hosts next year's UN Climate Change Conference.

Uniting around this common issue, NFU Scotland, Scottish Land and Estates, the Scottish Partnership Against Rural Crime, Keep Scotland Beautiful and the Woodland Trust have this week written to Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform, Roseanna Cunningham, to ask how the Scottish Government intends tackle flytipping.

In the letter, the organisations warned that every week that passes by without serious action, is another week of Scotland's beautiful countryside being used as a dumping ground, causing a wide range of problems to the natural, social and economic environment, including harm to wildlife and livestock, disease transmission, soil contamination, attraction of other crimes and substantial clear-up costs.

"We jointly write to you to express our continued concerns about flytipping which continues to blight Scotland’s countryside and to ask you to clarify the Scottish Government’s plans for tackling this issue in the short to medium term," read the letter.

"Waste crime is becoming an increasingly more visible issue and we believe a new approach is needed to turn the tables on this crime for good. With Scotland expected to host the UN Climate Change Conference in 2021 we believe this offers a unique catalyst for action, to look after our environment and encourage others to do the same."

The rural organisations acknowleged the Scottish Government’s recent review of the national litter strategy, which included measures on flytipping, and its work with SEPA, Zero Waste Scotland, COSLA and councils on identifying ways to tackle the issue – but made it clear that official action so far has simply not been enough to make a difference.

"We believe there must be a shift in focus from the endless task of clearing up other people’s mess to preventing it from occurring in the first place," said the joint letter.

"We believe this could happen through a coordinated strategic national response to tackle flytipping in Scotland; collaborative, cross-sector working with a firm commitment from the Scottish Government to regularly bring key stakeholders together; and a greater use of data to better assess the scale and impact of the problem which can then be used to help drive action at a regional or local level.

"With Scotland rightly perceived as leading the way on a range of environmental issues, we believe 2020 should be the year we must start to address this issue – now is the time to bring all stakeholders to the table and agree how we can collectively tackle flytipping.

"Every week that passes by without serious action, is another week of our beautiful country being used as a dumping ground."