Delivering Scotland's Circular Economy - route map to 2025 and beyond: consultation analysis

1. Introduction

1.1 The policy context

The Scottish Government is committed to developing Scotland’s circular economy and recognises that moving from a “take, make and dispose” model to one where materials are kept in use is imperative in addressing the climate and nature crises. In the update to Scotland's 2018-2032 Climate Change Plan, published in 2020, the Scottish Government set out a vision for a circular economy; one where demand for raw material in products is reduced; reuse and repairs are encouraged through responsible production; and waste and energy is recycled to maximise the value of any waste that is generated.

To deliver this vision, Scotland has several ambitious 2025 waste and recycling targets. While significant long-term progress towards these targets has been made, progress has slowed in recent years, and more action is required if these targets are to be met in full.

A range of transformational measures are already in place or underway in Scotland, including bans on problematic single-use plastic items, implementation of Scotland's Deposit Return Scheme, reform of extended producer responsibility for packaging and a £70 million investment in local authority recycling infrastructure. However, in order to meet the ambitious 2025 targets and deliver emissions reductions, the Scottish Government has proposed further system-wide changes.

In May 2022, the Scottish Government published a Route Map, which set out a range of proposed additional legislative and non-legislative measures that have the potential to contribute to the delivery of the targets, make progress towards emission reduction, and deliver a circular economy. Proposals in the Route Map were grouped into seven change packages, which span action across the whole circular economy:

• Promote responsible consumption and production (including reducing consumption of single-use items, promoting product design and stewardship and mainstreaming reuse)
• Reduce food waste from households and businesses
• Improve recycling from households
• Improve recycling from commercial businesses
• Embed circular construction practices
• Minimise the impact of disposal of waste that cannot be reused or recycled
• Cross-cutting themes: Strengthen our data and evidence, sustainable procurement practices, and skills and training.

1.2 The consultation

The Scottish Government sought views on the Route Map though a public consultation exercise, which ran between 30 May and 22 August 2022. The consultation was an opportunity for the Scottish Government to understand a wide variety of stakeholders’ views on the proposed strategic approach to advancing a circular economy in Scotland and delivering existing targets by 2025. It contained eight closed questions with an open response component and 12 open questions.

The Lines Between was commissioned to provide robust, independent analysis of the consultation responses to inform the final Route Map. This report sets out a collation of the key feedback from respondents, including quantitative analysis of responses to the closed questions and qualitative analysis of respondents’ open text comments.

1.3 Respondent profile

In total, 160 consultation responses were received. Most were submitted via the online consultation platform, Citizen Space. Those received in an alternative format, for example an email or PDF document, were reviewed separately by the research team.

Individuals provided 48 responses to the consultation; the remaining 112 were from organisations. To aid analysis, each organisation was assigned a sector or type. The largest share of organisational responses came from retail and packaging organisations, the third sector, and the construction and development sector. The following table shows the number of respondents per group; more detail is provided in Appendix B.

1.4 Approach to analysis

1.4.1 Quantitative analysis

There were eight closed questions in the consultation. A full breakdown of the number and percentage response to each question can be found in Appendix C at the end of this report. Please note that figures in the tables may not add to 100% due to rounding.

As not all respondents answered each closed question, the quantitative analysis in the main report is based on those who answered each question. Each table shows:

• The number of respondents from the total sample of 160 who selected each response, and the corresponding percentage.
• The number and percentage response among those answering each question, broken down by individual and organisation responses and by type of organisation.

1.4.2 Qualitative analysis

Qualitative analysis outlines the key themes identified in responses to each question. The analyst team coded each response against a coding framework which was developed based on a review of the consultation questions and a sample of responses. Where appropriate, quotes from individuals and organisations are included to illustrate key points and to provide useful examples, insights and contextual information.

A few organisations provided detailed responses reflecting their specific industry or subject matter expertise. There is not scope in this report to fully summarise these responses; however, the responses are referenced where possible.

Additionally, some respondents commented on existing actions and current measures, however the focus of the analysis presented in this report is on respondents’ views of new proposed measures set out in the Route Map.

Full responses to the consultation, where permission for publication was granted, can be found on the Scottish Government’s website.

Qualitative analysis of open-ended questions does not permit the quantification of results. To assist the reader in interpreting the findings, we use a framework to convey the most to least commonly identified themes across responses to each question:

• The most common / second most common theme; the most frequently identified.

It is important to note that while many of the open text comments focussed on concerns or queries raised about specific proposals or aspects of the Route Map, analysis of the quantitative responses does still indicate a high level of overall support for the Route Map.