Status quo, potentials for actions, tools and measures to reduce littering

According to the European waste legislation, EU member states have the obligation to take suitable actions in order to reduce littering, which is defined as carelessly leaving behind or dropping waste outside the designated waste buckets. Littering is a common environmental issue and numerous studies have examined the type of waste that is being littered, who litters and why people litter in order to develop suita-ble preventive actions and/or interventions. It was found that not only the type of waste being littered plays a crucial role, but also the location, time and the social en-vironment in which littering takes place are important influential factors. At the same time, different target groups (e.g., children, adolescents or adults) may show different reactions to the same or similar interventions, which reveals the necessity to develop situational- as well as target-group-oriented interventions. For effective interventions and action approaches, these aspects need to be adequately considered and ad-dressed. The goal of the current research project, therefore, was to give an overview of the littering situation in Germany by conducting a literature analysis, an online survey as well as qualitative telephone interviews, and a broad data collection cam-paign/study. Finally, suitable instruments, interventions and action approaches to reduce littering were identified.