- Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 December 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Lorna Slater on 20 December 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to improve the separate disposal of batteries from household waste.
Answer
Alongside the other UK governments, we are working to reform the producer responsibility system for batteries to increase battery recycling and make it easier for consumers to dispose of batteries responsibly. The four governments will be consulting on our approach in due course.
We recently consulted on proposals to increase household recycling quantity and quality, as part of our Waste Route Map. This included a co-design process with local authorities, waste service operators, and residents to develop better service design and delivery standards. This process will consider the scope for potential materials for future recycling services, such as batteries, alongside available markets and reprocessing capacity for collected materials.
- Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 December 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Lorna Slater on 20 December 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how many retailers are currently using Deposit Return Scheme return points on a voluntary basis.
Answer
The Scottish Government does not keep a record of the number of retailers currently operating return points on a voluntary basis.
We understand that a number of businesses are trialling or have already trialled the use of reverse vending machines in their premises in Scotland and welcome their commitment to ensuring their readiness for the launch of the UK’s first Deposit Return Scheme on 16 August 2023.
- Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 15 December 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Lorna Slater on 20 December 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of forecast reports conducted by Zero Waste Scotland showing any (a) potential savings and (b) net losses resulting from the forthcoming Deposit Return Scheme in each local authority area.
Answer
Modelling by Zero Waste Scotland (ZWS) projects that 29 of Scotland’s 32 local authorities will incur a net financial benefit from the implementation of Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS). Local authorities are also expected to benefit from a reduction in the impact of litter, and from efficiencies to collection services following the implementation of DRS.
ZWS it is engaging with individual local authorities, in particular the three currently projected not to make savings, to assess the impacts of DRS on them and look at options for service improvements.
These calculations are based on commercially sensitive data provided in confidence to ZWS by local authorities. We will therefore not publicly identify the three local authorities that stand to incur a net cost.
- Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 December 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Lorna Slater on 20 December 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether there is a need for future monitoring and evaluation of the Deposit Return Scheme and, if so, whether (a) it or (b) Circularity Scotland will fund it.
Answer
The Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) Regulations require the Scottish Government to carry out a review of DRS before 1 October 2026.
The Scottish Government has commissioned external consumer research to provide a baseline and follow ups on recycling and awareness and uptake of DRS and any related barriers. This research is being undertaken by an experienced team from Union Advertising. The Scottish Government is also undertaking work with Zero Waste Scotland and Keep Scotland Beautiful to collate data through the Litter Management System survey on the impacts of DRS on on-the-ground litter.
- Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 December 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Lorna Slater on 20 December 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on battery recycling collection points in each local authority area.
Answer
Five local authorities (Aberdeenshire, Edinburgh, East Lothian, East Ayrshire & Falkirk) currently provide kerbside household collection of portable batteries.
All 32 local authorities accept portable and lead-acid batteries (car batteries) through their Household Waste and Recycling Centres. In addition, many also have portable battery collection points in libraries and/or leisure centres.
- Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 December 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Lorna Slater on 20 December 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what public awareness activities it has undertaken to inform people of the correct disposal method for batteries.
Answer
In spring 2021, Zero Waste Scotland ran a campaign, Batteries Are Better Recycled, encouraging the public to recycle batteries, and how to do it correctly.
The campaign was delivered through local and national media, videos and digital, alongside proactive engagement with local authorities across Scotland. Since the campaign, ZWS continue to share key campaign messages and assets through their channels.
I would also note that the Environmental Services Association relaunched its national ‘Take Charge’ campaign in October 2022, with the aim of urging everyone to recycle batteries and electronic devices responsibly.
- Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 05 December 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Lorna Slater on 20 December 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of how projects funded through the Recycling Improvement Fund have delivered (a) increased frequency of recycling collections, (b) extended food and garden waste collections, (c) increased recycling capacity for problematic materials and (d) increased local authority compliance with the Household Recycling Charter.
Answer
Proposed impacts of individual projects are captured at both assessment stage and subsequent monitoring stages of each project.
The Recycling Improvement Fund has funded the following projects under these headings:
(a) increased frequency of recycling collections
Council | Summary of impact on (a) | Total project grant (£m) |
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar | Expansion of collection services to rural areas. | £0.8m |
East Lothian | Charter aligned single weekly pass service for source separated kerbside recycling and food waste. | £2.7m |
Perth & Kinross | Expansion of recycling service. | £2.6m |
(b) extended food and garden waste collections
Council | Summary of impact on (b) | Total project grant (£m) |
Aberdeenshire | Service change to align with Charter and increased food waste collection. | £3.4m |
East Lothian | Charter aligned single weekly pass service for source separated kerbside recycling and food waste. | £2.7m |
Highland | Introduction of an additional, chargeable garden waste service. | £0.2m |
Midlothian | Expansion of food waste recycling service to a further 1,800 rural properties. | £0.1m |
(c) increased recycling capacity for problematic materials
Council | Summary of impact on (c) | Total project grant (£m) |
Fife | TOMRA plastic film sorting equipment, allowing collection of film from all households in Fife. | £0.4m |
North Ayrshire | Mattress cleaner to allow mattress reuse/recycling. | £0.07m |
(d) increased local authority compliance with the Household Recycling Charter.
Council | Summary of impact on (d) | Total project grant (£m) |
Aberdeenshire | Service change to align with Charter and increased food waste collection. | £3.4m |
East Lothian | Charter aligned single weekly pass service for source separated kerbside recycling and food waste. | £2.7m |
West Lothian | Introduction of a kerbside service change to move to twin stream recycling to comply with the Code of Practice. | £4.04m |
South Ayrshire | On-the-go recycling in local community parks, that align with charter. | £0.09m |
- Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 December 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 20 December 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on what the (a) claimant count and (b) unemployment rate in Dundee has been in each of the last five years, broken down by ward area.
Answer
The claimant count rate for Dundee City local authority and 2021 electoral wards within Dundee City are shown in table 1 for November 2018 to November 2022.
The model based unemployment rate for Dundee City local authority are shown in table 2 for years Jul 2017-Jun 2018 to Jul 2021-Jun 2022. Model based estimates of unemployment are the official source for unemployment rates by local authority. Unemployment rates by electoral ward are not available from this source.
Table 1: Claimants as a proportion of residents aged 16-64 years
Area | November 2018 | November 2019 | November 2020 | November 2021 | November 2022 |
ladu:Dundee City | 4.2 | 4.6 | 7.1 | 5.1 | 4.1 |
ward2021:S13002548 : Coldside | 6.1 | 6.9 | 10.4 | 7.5 | 5.7 |
ward2021:S13002551 : East End | 5.8 | 6.9 | 10.2 | 7.5 | 6.0 |
ward2021:S13002546 : Lochee | 6.5 | 6.9 | 9.2 | 7.1 | 6.1 |
ward2021:S13002549 : Maryfield | 4.5 | 4.4 | 6.8 | 4.9 | 4.4 |
ward2021:S13002830 : North East | 4.1 | 4.6 | 7.4 | 4.9 | 4.0 |
ward2021:S13002545 : Strathmartine | 4.1 | 4.4 | 7.3 | 4.9 | 3.8 |
ward2021:S13002552 : The Ferry | 1.1 | 1.1 | 2.8 | 1.4 | 1.3 |
ward2021:S13002547 : West End | 2.3 | 2.4 | 4.1 | 3.0 | 2.4 |
Source: Nomis - Official Census and Labour Market Statistics (nomisweb.co.uk)
Claimant count by sex and age
Claimants as a proportion of residents aged 16-64 years
Rates for local authorities from 2020 onwards are calculated using the mid-2020 resident population aged 16-64.
Under Universal Credit a broader span of claimants are required to look for work than under Jobseeker's Allowance. As Universal Credit Full Service is rolled out in particular areas, the number of people recorded as being on the Claimant Count is therefore likely to rise.
Table 2: Model based estimates of unemployment Dundee City local authority
- Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 15 December 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Lorna Slater on 20 December 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how it is engaging with the digital deposit return trial being run by Ocado, and whether it has requested that Zero Waste Scotland reviews the results.
Answer
The Scottish Government has not engaged with Ocado regarding its digital deposit return trial.
We would anticipate that industry will make extensive use of digital technology in delivering our Deposit Return Scheme (DRS), for example by developing an IT system to track payments made and received, adopting state-of-the-art reverse vending technology to prevent fraud, and using digital media to communicate with the public regarding DRS.
We are aware of the so-called ‘digital DRS’ as a proposed approach to delivering deposit return whereby consumers redeem deposits on scheme articles by scanning them with a smartphone before placing them in their kerbside recycling. We considered this approach during the policy-development process for DRS and the strong feedback from both industry and environmental NGOs was that the technology is not sufficiently mature for implementation on the timetable for our DRS.
- Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 19 December 2022
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 22 December 2022
To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to reported warnings that the implementation of the Deposit Return Scheme will be "ruinous for consumers and businesses".
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 22 December 2022
