Circular economy and waste route map to 2030: Fairer Scotland duty - summary assessment

Appendix 1

The following section describes the four Route Map strategic aims, along with identified priority actions (in bold) and further actions (bullet points).

Reduce and reuse

Reducing and reusing waste are at the top of the waste hierarchy and central to changing our relationship with materials and products. Building an economic system that moves away from being based on items that are designed to be disposable will bring significant environmental benefits.

The interventions within this strategic aim are grouped under three objectives:

• Responsible consumption, production and reuse
• Reduce food waste
• Embed circular construction practices

Responsible consumption, production and reuse

Publish a Product Stewardship Plan to set out how we will tackle the environmental impact of priority products by 2025/26

• Develop further measures to tackle consumption of problematic single-use items and promote uptake of reusable alternatives (including consideration of environmental charging), prioritising action on single-use drinks cups
• Develop measures to address the disposal of unsold consumer goods
• Develop measures to improve the reuse experience for consumers
• Deliver behaviour change-based approaches focussed on sustainable consumption, aligned to Let’s Do Net Zero communications
• Identify ways to expand business models that prolong product lifespan
• Investigate further steps to promote business-business reuse platforms

Reduce food waste

Develop an intervention plan to guide long-term work on household food waste reduction behaviour change by 2026/27

Develop with stakeholders effective options to implement mandatory reporting for food waste and surplus by businesses from 2025/26

• Strengthen data and evidence
• Review the rural exemption for food waste recycling, as part of recycling co-design process
• Deliver enhanced support for businesses

Develop an intervention plan to guide long-term work on household food

Embed circular construction practices

Support the development of a model for regional Scottish hubs and networks for the reuse of construction materials and assets from 2025-2027

• Develop new and promote existing best practice standards in circular practices within the construction sector, and assess the options for both voluntary and mandatory compliance
• Investigate and promote options to incentivise and build capacity for the refurbishment of buildings
• Investigate and promote ways to reduce soil and stones disturbance, movement and volumes going to landfill
• Review opportunities to accelerate adoption of climate change and circular economy focussed purchasing in construction
• Consider how devolved taxes can incentivise the use of recycled aggregates and support circular economy practices

Modernise recycling

Recycling helps to conserve our natural resources, keep valuable materials flowing through our economy and reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill. We want Scotland to become a world leader in recycling, where recycling and reuse services are easy to use and accessible to all, and support and encourage positive choices. We want a high-performing recycling system that includes: modernised recycling services for households and businesses across Scotland; optimises the performance of collection services; and can recycle most waste types to maximise diversion of waste from disposal. Increasing the amount of materials recycled and increasing the proportion of these recycled in Scotland will deliver carbon reductions, reduce the environmental impacts associated with extracting new raw materials, and create a range of important economic opportunities to reprocess and reuse materials here in Scotland.

The interventions within this strategic aim are grouped under two objectives:

• Household recycling
• Commercial recycling

Household recycling

Facilitate a co-design process for high quality, high performing household recycling and reuse services, 2024-2026

• Introduce a statutory Code of Practice for household waste services
• Introduce statutory recycling and reuse local performance targets for household waste services (from 2030)
• Undertake a consultation to explore kerbside collection of textiles
• Strengthen the Householder’s duty of care obligation in relation to household waste
• Give local authorities more tools to support household recycling and reduce contamination
• Undertake a review of waste and recycling service charging
• Review the monitoring and reporting framework for local authority waste services
• Develop options and consult on the introduction of end destination public reporting of household recycling collected

Commercial recycling

Review of compliance with commercial recycling requirements, 2026

Co-design measures to improve commercial waste service provisions, commencing by 2030

• Conduct a national compositional study of waste from commercial premises

Decarbonise disposal

The production and management of waste results in environmental impacts and represents missed economic opportunities for these materials. That is why our focus in this Route Map is to prevent materials from becoming waste in the first place. As we accelerate our move to a circular economy, we will produce less waste. We want to ensure that materials that cannot be avoided, reused, or recycled are managed in a way that minimises environmental and climate impacts, encourages management of materials further up the waste hierarchy, and minimises broader societal impacts.

Develop a Residual Waste Plan to 2045, 2027

Facilitate the development of a Sector-Led Plan to minimise the carbon impacts of the Energy from Waste Sector, 2027

• Support the inclusion of energy from waste in the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), and investigate other fiscal measures to incentivise low carbon disposal
• Review and target materials currently landfilled to identify and drive alternative management routes
• Facilitate the co-production of guidelines for effective community engagement
• Increase the capture of landfill gas

Strengthen the circular economy

Delivering a circular economy requires sustained transformational system change, and a range of actions that are both complementary and coordinated to drive sustainable management of our resources. If we are to maximise the opportunities that a circular economy brings to Scotland, we must maintain a strategic approach to its delivery, ensuring the right structures and support are in place to enable action.

Develop a circular economy strategy every five years, first one in 2026

Set new circular economy targets by 2027

• Review and refresh Scotland’s Waste Data Strategy’s action plan
• Maintain a programme of research on waste prevention, behaviour change, fiscal incentives and material-specific priorities
• Develop public procurement opportunities to reduce the environmental impact of public spending, including scoping new legislative circular economy requirements for contracting authorities under section 82 and 82A of the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009
• Support greater uptake of green skills, training, and development opportunities