We have half a dozen smartphone-operated bike schemes on the go. The bikes do literally litter the pavement sometimes. On occasion you have to climb over them (or carry them out of the way). They end up in the river and chucked into hedges. They end up mangled by the side of the road after people try to remove the locks. Some of them do objectively end up as 'trash'.

Yes, the blame lies squarely at the door of inconsiderate cyclists. But I can't help but think that the vendors (and licensing authorities) should have seen this coming. Is it stealing to personally take that rusy Ofo bike from the side of the road and re-use the materials? I think the answer is yes. What would the local authority do if I took it to the recycling station. They probably wouldn't want to touch it. So it's up to to the vendor to clean up their refuse.

I haven't seen scooters first hand, but if they're like the bikes, then I don't think that's a hyperbolic stretch to use the word 'littering'.