Single-Use Disposable Beverage Cups Charge Strategic Environmental Assessment: Environmental Report

1. Non-technical summary

1.1 Introduction

The Circular Economy (Scotland) Bill, passed unanimously by the Scottish Parliament in June 2024, gives Scottish Ministers new powers to require suppliers of single-use items to charge a minimum amount for such items, through the introduction of a new section 87A into the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009^[1], with the policy aim of reducing consumption and therefore reducing the environmental harm caused^[2]. The Scottish Government intends that an early use of such powers will be to introduce a minimum charge on single-use disposable beverage cups.

The Scottish Government is therefore proposing to make regulations requiring suppliers of beverages in single-use disposable beverage cups to charge a minimum amount for such cups. The policy aim is to reduce the consumption of single-use disposable beverage cups and therefore reduce the environmental harm caused. This will support the overall ambition to tackle our throwaway culture by avoiding unnecessary waste and use fewer resources. This aligns with a wider ambition to promote reusable alternatives as part of the shift towards a circular economy in Scotland.

1.2 Strategic Environmental Assessment

Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) is a statutory requirement under the Environmental Assessment (Scotland) Act (‘the 2005 Act’), to assess the likely significant environmental effects that a public plan, programme, or strategy (PPS) will have on the environment if implemented. The process identifies how adverse environmental effects can be avoided, minimised, reduced, or mitigated and how any positive effects can be enhanced. It also allows the public to give their view on the programme and its potential environmental impacts.

The SEA comprises the following key stages:

1. Screening: determining whether a PPS (in this instance, the proposed charge on single-use disposable beverage cups) requires an SEA. The Screening Report was issued to statutory consultees on 30 November 2023.

2. Scoping: establishing the scope and approach of the SEA, including the initial environmental topics to include, the context (a review of other PPSs and the environmental baseline), and the assessment methodology, with the information presented in a scoping report, which is subject to a 5-week consultation. The scoping report was issued to statutory consultees on 30 November 2023. An extended consultation period ran until 18 January 2024.

3. Environmental assessment: identifying, describing, and assessing the likely significant effects of the proposed charge.

4. Environmental report: outlining the findings from the environmental assessment, consistent with the requirements of Schedule 3 of the 2005 Act. This report is the Environmental Report.

5. Main consultation: consulting on the draft policy alongside the environmental report;

6. Post adoption statement (PAS): producing a statement to outline how the assessment and consultation responses have been considered within the finalised plan. This will be produced once the final version of the policy has been agreed and adopted.

7. Monitoring: monitoring the effects of implementation. This will be an ongoing exercise to determine the impacts of the charge evaluate its success in achieving its aims.

The SEA approach has been amended where appropriate in response to the comments received from statutory consultees during the consultation period on the combined Screening and Scoping Reports. A summary of the responses received and corresponding actions taken is set out in Appendix A: Addressing responses from consultative authorities.

1.3 Results

1.3.1 Summary of results

The impacts of the proposed charge identified in this assessment are summarised below:

Summary of impacts against each environmental topic

Climatic Factors: +

Biodiversity: ++

Water : +/-

Human health: +/-

Soil: +

Material Assets: ++

Landscape and visual impacts: ++

Key

++: Positive impacts

+: Minor or uncertain positive impacts

+/-: Uncertain or both positive and negative impacts

The following sections summarise the overall impacts expected within each of the environmental topics as a result of the proposed charge. The underlying evidence and calculations are set out in section 5.

1.3.2 Climatic factors

While it is not possible to quantify with certainty what the carbon impact of the proposed charge will be, it is anticipated that a net reduction in greenhouse gas emissions will be observed. This is due to an expected decrease in demand for single-use disposable beverage cups in favour of reusable alternatives, which, over their lifetime, are likely to have a lower contribution to climate change.

1.3.3 Biodiversity

A reduction of between 62.1 and 159.4 million cups expected to be placed on the market by 2035 ^[3] is likely to lessen the associated burden on habitats and species in areas where raw materials are extracted and where manufacturing and disposal activity takes place.

As a result of an estimated 0.4 – 12.1 million fewer cups and 0.2 – 6.0³ million fewer lids being littered in Scotland each year after 10 years of the charge, it is anticipated that resultant environmental damage to ecosystems will be lessened due to reduced exposure to harmful leachates.

1.3.4 Water

The proposed charge is anticipated to increase water use due to increased use of reusable beverage cups requiring regular cleaning, either by hand or in a dishwasher. This will be partially offset by reduced demand for single-use disposable beverage cups, and the associated water use in their production^[4].

The charge is expected to improve water quality in Scotland due to a reduction in littered single-use disposable beverage cups and a corresponding drop in associated leachates such as microplastics.

1.3.5 Human health

The proposed charge is expected to have an impact on the materials from which consumers drink hot and cold beverages. As different materials will demonstrate different levels of migration, the human health impact of the proposed charge is dependent upon the material of the reusable alternatives adopted.

Some positive mental health effects may be seen among the population as a result of the charge achieving litter reductions.

1.3.6 Soil

As a result of fewer single-use disposable beverage cups and lids being littered in Scotland following the implementation of the charge, it is anticipated that resultant damage to soils will be lessened due to reduced contamination e.g. from microplastics.

1.3.7 Material assets

The proposed charge is estimated to reduce the number of single-use disposable beverage cups placed on the Scottish market by between 24.4% and 45.9%³, thus reducing the amount of paperboard, plastics, and bioplastics consumed and ultimately disposed of or littered. Encouraging the use of reusable alternatives to throwaway packaging will help to normalise and embed circular economy behaviours in Scotland.

1.3.8 Landscape and visual impacts

It is estimated that between 0.4 and 12.1 million fewer single-use disposable beverage cups and between 0.2 and 6.0 million fewer lids will be littered in Scotland each year after 10 years of the charge^[5]. This is anticipated to enhance the appearance of outdoor spaces in Scotland by reducing volumes of litter which can detract from the landscape’s natural beauty.