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We welcome the valuable input from the First Minister's Environment Council, which we will take into account as part of wider policy development, for example work to develop Scotland's battery technology supply chain.

The Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA) discussed the Deposit Return Scheme with the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Economy on 24 March 2022 and myself on 31 October 2022. Scottish Government officials also meet regularly with small brewers’ representatives, most commonly through the DRS System-Wide Assurance Group, of which SIBA is a member.

No modelling has been carried out to ascertain the impact of the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) on donations of drinks to charities and other good causes.

As the scheme is cost neutral to consumers, provided they return their empty containers in order to redeem the deposit, we do not expect DRS to affect donation habits.

Yes, as set out in our recent Waste and Circular Economy Route Map consultation, we intend to set new circular economy targets for the period to 2030 which go beyond weight-based criteria.

We must ensure that any future targets correspond to our Environment Strategy and overall vision for a circular economy, alongside the principles we set out in the consultation. One of these key principles is that any future targets should help to ensure that we deliver a sustainable international material footprint.

The feedback from the First Minister’s Environmental Council will be considered along with responses to the Route Map consultation, which are currently being analysed.

The First Minister’s Environmental Council’s responses to the question regarding mechanisms to reduce consumption in raw materials can be found in the minutes of the meeting on 13 June 2022: www.gov.scot/publications/first-ministers-environmental-council-minutes-june-2022/

Specifically, the minutes report that:

• members suggested an increase in community and stakeholder engagement to understand how best to incentivise household recycling - noting the lack of standardised recycling across local authorities and the social barriers to recycling.
• members highlighted chemical recycling as a key example to support a fundamental shift: i.e. chemicals in products holding back recycling potential. Members suggested further investigation on targeting the use of critical elements such as Lithium
• support was provided on embedding circular economy practices into construction and product design. Key challenge is addressing the generation of waste, not just managing existing waste.
• need to consider low carbon as well as recycled materials and understand the evidence behind different choices is important here.

Unfortunately, the Scottish Government is unable to produce these specific statistics as the Greenhouse Gas Inventory that we use does not allow us to extract data separately for textiles. However, a one-off project published in November 2020 ( available here ) shows estimates for textiles manufacturing. We have also included the estimates for wearing apparel from 2014-2018. Please see the following table.

These statistics are on a ‘residence basis’ which differs slightly from the territorial basis we usually use. Nonetheless, we expect the difference between residential and territorial emissions for textiles to be minor.

Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) payments are not specifically allocated to wool farmers. Sheep producers in Scotland are however eligible for a number of CAP support schemes including the Basic Payment Scheme (payments total circa. £418 million), Less Favoured Area Support Scheme (payments total circa. £62 million) and the Scottish Upland Sheep Support Scheme (payments total circa £7 million).

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-11774 on 8 December 2022. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

The aim of the split is to allow a wide range of applications for different types of innovations, including for potential capital support which can be of higher cost.

Zero Waste Scotland are currently concluding the applicant process for round 1 of the Circular Textile Fund. Announcements on funding decisions will be made in due course, once the robust application and assessment process is complete.