Packaging - extended producer responsibility: equality impact assessment

The Scope of the EQIA

39. A preliminary framing workshop was conducted by Zero Waste Scotland and the Scottish Government prior to the public consultation in March 2021. Equalities groups identified a limited number of potential impacts, so a proportional strategy was designed, focussed on desk-based research to source existing data and evidence to assess the potential impacts identified in the framing exercise. A further framing exercise was conducted in March 2022 following publication of the joint government response to the public consultation, which outlined specific scheme components.^[27] In December 2023 a further stakeholder workshop was held with Disability Equality Scotland, Dyslexia Scotland and the Scottish Refugee Council. Discussions from this workshop have been used to inform the assessment.

40. Summary of activities:

• Framing workshop: Zero Waste Scotland and Scottish Government discussion.
• Evidence-gathering: quantitative and qualitative data and evidence were sourced, including evidence from existing large Scotland- and UK-level surveys, primarily in relation to income, food and drink expenditure, and age.
• Further framing workshop: Zero Waste Scotland and Scottish Government representatives assessed the potential impacts of the new policy following the publication of the joint government response to the public consultation. This took account of the clarified scheme design and consultation responses relevant to this equality assessment.
• Consultation: A final stakeholder workshop (facilitated discussion) was delivered in December 2022, to further explore the impacts of the regulation on protected characteristics. The output from this workshop did not identify any additional issues but did highlight the need for clear and accessible communication so all people can participate fully in the new scheme. Suggestions included simpler and clearer labelling, consideration of print size, use of understood icons and the adoption of braille on packaging to communicate instructions. The discussion on cost pass-through raised some concerns over transparency and also the pass through of actual packaging costs and not an inflated cost.