Publication - Consultation paper

Delivering Scotland's circular economy - route map to 2025 and beyond: consultation

Published: 30 May 2022
Directorate: Environment and Forestry Directorate
Topic: Environment and climate change
ISBN: 9781804354681

Through this consultation we set out our proposals for a Route Map to 2025, our strategic plan to deliver Scotland’s zero waste and circular economy ambitions. This consultation invites views on the proposed priorities and actions to reach our waste, recycling and emissions reduction targets.

Supporting documents

Footnotes

1. The Environment Strategy for Scotland: vision and outcomes

2. SEPA Waste Data and Reporting

3. Making Things Last: A Circular Economy Strategy for Scotland

4. Securing a green recovery on a path to net zero: climate change plan 2018–2032

5. Covering waste disposed of to landfill sites, waste incineration, and the treatment of waste water

6. The Scottish Government publishes emissions on a territorial basis from the Scottish greenhouse gas inventory as part of the Official Statistics publication Scottish Greenhouse Gas Emissions 2019, see figure 2.

7. Scotland's Carbon Footprint 1998-2018,

8. The Carbon Impacts of the Circular Economy

9. The Use of Natural Resources in the Economy: A Global Manual on Economy Wide Material Flow Accounting

10. The Environment Strategy for Scotland: vision and outcomes

11. National Performance Framework

12. UN Sustainable Development Goals

13. Final Report - The Economics of Biodiversity: The Dasgupta Review

14. Scotland's National Strategy for Economic Transformation

15. Briefing on job creation potential in the re-use sector

16. Food waste worse than plastic for climate change

17. SEPA, Waste from all sources – 2018

18. CCC Progress in reducing emissions, 2021 Report to Parliament

19. INCPEN, Public confidence in recycling, survey of 2000 UK respondents conducted in August 2021

20. Research into public attitudes to climate change policy and a green recovery, December 2020.

21. Scotland's Climate Assembly: Full Report

22. CCC December 2019 progress report,

23. CCC Progress in reducing emissions: 2021 Report to Parliament

24. CCC Progress in reducing emissions, 2021 Report to Parliament,

25. Making Peace with Nature, United Nations Environment Programme (2021)

26. Scotland's Carbon Footprint report 1998-2017

27. Scotland's Materials Flow Accounting, Zero Waste Scotland (2021)

28. Managing and conserving the natural resource base for sustained economic and social development, UNEP International Resource Panel (2014)

29. The Carbon Footprint of Scotland's Waste, Zero Waste Scotland (2020)

30. Climate Change (Emissions Reduction Targets) (Scotland) Act 2019

31. Waste data for Scotland, SEPA. The most recent all waste reporting year is 2018..

32. Construction and demolition waste is addressed package 5.

33. The Carbon Footprint of Scotland's Waste: Carbon Metric Summary Report (2017 & 2018)

34. Climate Change (Emissions Reduction Targets) (Scotland) Act 2019

35. subject to the UK Internal Market Act

^† Legislative proposal – see Circular Economy Bill consultation

36. Scotland's Carrier Bag Charge One Year On report, Zero Waste Scotland (2015)

37. Article 4 of the EU Single-Use Plastics Directive requires measures to be put in place to achieve an sustained reduction in the consumption of single-use plastic beverage cups and food containers.

38. Climate Change (Emissions Reduction Targets) (Scotland) Act 2019

39. Previous priorities identified through Making Things Last included tyres, furniture and mattresses.

40. Chemicals, construction, food, metals and textiles; see Defra Waste and Resources Strategy

41. WRAP: The Plastics Pact

42. WRAP: Sustainable Clothing Action Plan 2020 Commitment

^† Legislative proposal – see Circular Economy Bill consultation

43. European Parliament resolution of 10 February 2021 on the New Circular Economy Action Plan

^† Legislative proposal – see Circular Economy Bill consultation

44. Reuse Targets Factsheet

45. see Environment Act 2021, particularly Part 3: Waste and resource efficiency and Schedules 4-7

^† Legislative proposal – see Circular Economy Bill consultation

46. Dundee City Community Re-Use Hub

47. Further details can be found at: Network of Sharing Libraries and Repair Cafes

48. How Much Food is Wasted in Scotland? | Zero Waste Scotland

49. Food waste worse than plastic for climate change says Zero Waste Scotland | Zero Waste Scotland

50. See table 3.3 in The carbon footprint of Scotland's waste technical report

51. Scotland generated 70.4 Million tonnes of CO₂eq in 2018, according to Scotland's Carbon Footprint

52. Net Zero: why resource efficiency holds the answers | WRAP

53. Food waste reduction: action plan - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

54. See Route Map - technical annex

55. Technical report templates (wrap.org.uk)

56. WRAP: Food waste tracking survey (winter 2021)

57. Food Waste Toolkit | Net Zero Nation

58. Food waste reduction: action plan - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

^† Legislative proposal – see Circular Economy Bill consultation

59. Food Waste Reduction Roadmap | WRAP

60. Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre

61. See UN Sustainable Development Goal 12

62. Surplus food redistribution in the UK 2015 to 2020 | WRAP

63. Waste data flow data, Question 23, Collected household waste: Regular Collection

64. The composition of household waste at the kerbside in 2014-15, Zero Waste Scotland (2017)

65. Eunomia report, Review of High Performing Recycling Systems, 2021

66. INCPEN survey of 2000 UK respondents in Autumn 2021

67. 98% of households have access to kerbside services that target paper, card, plastic and metals. Glass is collected using either kerbside or recycling points. The rural food waste exemption means that kerbside food waste is targeted at the kerbside from approximately 80% of Scotland's households.

68. The composition of household waste at the kerbside in 2014-15, Zero Waste Scotland (2017)

69. See Recyclate Quality (sepa.org.uk)

70. In 2008 the ring-fencing for this funding was removed and the total annual funding (£77.428 million) added to the General Revenue Grant (GRG) and paid as part of the block grant funding.

71. SEPA household waste data

72. Packaging and packaging waste: introducing Extended Producer Responsibility

73. The last national kerbside waste composition analysis study in Scotland (2013-15) estimated that 330,000 tonnes of food waste was thrown away in the non-recyclable kerbside waste bin. On average, only 27% of food waste was recycled. More recent unpublished estimates from 2018, produced as part of household packaging waste estimates, estimated approximately 305,000 tonnes of food waste in the non-recyclable kerbside waste bin, suggesting that food waste recycling performance had not significantly changed.

74. WasteDataFlow is a data collection tool used by all Scottish Local Authorities to record its waste collected and managed. It is the primary source of household and municipal waste data used to record the progress of recycling and waste management under Scotland's Making Things Last – A Circular Economy Strategy for Scotland.

^† Legislative proposal – see Circular Economy Bill consultation

75. Where does your recycling go? | My Recycling Wales

76. Welsh recycling rates are calculated differently to Scottish rates. Recycling of incinerator bottom ash is included in Welsh recycling targets, but is not included in Scottish or EU targets.

77. Eunomia report, Review of High Performing Recycling Systems, 2021

78. Waste (Scotland) Regulations 2012

79. See technical annex

80. SEPA waste from all sources summary

81. For example, there have been significant decreases in paper use in recent years.

82. The Zero Waste Scotland Food Waste Reduction Business Support service has provided support to almost 280 food SMEs since 2016, identifying potential savings of 15,000 tonnes of food waste.

83. Support to the construction sector via the Resource Efficient Scotland Advice and Support Service (RESASS) and the Construction Advice and Support Service between 2016 and 2019 identified waste savings from prevention measures of over 270,000 tonnes, with soil and inert waste streams contributing significantly to this figure.

84. Since 2016, Zero Waste Scotland has been supporting SMEs to move towards a circular economy through the Circular Economy Accelerator Programme, funded jointly by the Scottish Government and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) Impact/support. Third party evaluation of the support quantified annual future reductions of 5,960 tonnes of resources consumed, 128,600 tonnes of waste generated, and 657,700 t CO₂eq produced.

85. The Circular Economy Investment Fund has funded 68 projects since its launch in 2016. Once all projects are fully operational an annual carbon saving of 70ktpa is forecasted, leveraging £35 million of additional investment.

86. New CEN TC will develop standards for Life Cycle Management and Circular Design of fishing gear

87. Implementation of mandatory digital waste tracking - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

^† Legislative proposal – see Circular Economy Bill consultation

88. National Litter and Flytipping Strategy Consultation

89. SEPA plans in development

^† Legislative proposal – see Circular Economy Bill consultation

90. including Los Angeles, New York, Waregem (Belgium), Barcelona and London

91. Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging consultation (2021)

92. SEPA waste from all sources

93. SEPA waste from all sources

94. Zero Waste Scotland carried out Deconstruction Audits with North Lanarkshire Council on the deconstruction of their Gowkthrapple Estate. They estimated that the deconstruction for near full recovery of materials would increase upfront costs by £1.8m (142%), but would generate £2.1m in materials and save 2,923 tonnes CO₂e.

95. See SICEF white paper

96. Construction Circular Economy Resources

97. SEPA waste from all sources

98. See Waste from all sources – summary data 2018

99. See waste from all sources: waste data tables 2018

100. SEPA waste from all sources key figures: recycled C&D waste, excluding soil and stones

101. Net Zero Public Sector Buildings Standard - Scottish Futures Trust

102. Construction Forum Scotland Home/News - Construction Forum Scotland

103. Circular Economy Investment Fund | Zero Waste Scotland

104. Historic Environment Scotland's Carbon Calculator for Sustainable Procurement of Sandstone

105. Historic Scotland: Guidance on historic dwellings

106. Sustainable Retrofitting guidance

107. Materials guidance

108. Procurement guidance

109. CSIC research – local materials

110. CSIC research – zero carbon

111. CSIC project portal

112. Circular Economy Investment Fund

113. Climate Emergency Skills Action Plan

114. Scotland's Climate Assembly – Final Report

115. For example, see the SICEF White Paper

116. For example see Langston et al., 2018, AECOM's business case for retaining existing buildings, or University College London's Embodied Carbon Factsheet

117. For example, see Resource Efficient Scotland | Search for surplus materials in your area

118. For example see Materialrest24, Retrovius, FCRBE, Buildings As Material Banks, New Horizon

119. Evidence Review and Illustrative Policy Options for a Scottish Aggregates Levy

120. For example, see New Community of Practice for construction soil management

121. For example, - Resource Efficient Scotland | Search for surplus materials in your area

122. acknowledging that soil has current uses in landfill licencing requirements

123. Sorting residues aka 'trommel fines' are difficult to deal with and a major focus of non-compliant activity in the waste industry. There is very limited use of this fraction as it stands and, depending on the source and composition it may be only suitable for further sorting, incineration, or landfill.

124. See Route Map - technical annex

125. Incineration accounted for approximately 400,000 tonnes of waste in 2011 and 1.25 million tonnes in 2020

126. Stop, Sort, Burn, Bury - incineration in the waste hierarchy: independent review

127. Policy 20(i) Scotland 2045 - fourth National Planning Framework - draft: consultation

128. Evidence Review and Illustrative Policy Options for a Scottish Aggregates Levy

129. Stop, Sort, Burn, Bury - incineration in the waste hierarchy: independent review

130. The Environment Strategy for Scotland: vision and outcomes

131. Making Things Last: a circular economy strategy for Scotland

^† Legislative proposal – see Circular Economy Bill consultation

132. Waste data | Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA)

133. Implementation of mandatory digital waste tracking - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

134. See Scottish Government policy on public sector procurement