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Zero Waste Scotland (ZWS), as well as other partners, is supporting the Scottish Government to realise ambitions for a Circular Economy in Scotland which is critical to tackling the climate and nature crises. In this regard, ZWS is an important delivery partner for the Scottish Government, providing expertise on Circular Economy policy, programmes and research which help to fulfil commitments set out in the Bute House Agreement and the Programme for Government 21-22. The Scottish Government will continue to fund ZWS and other partners that are able to provide the required specialist expertise to progress the Circular Economy agenda.

The Nature Restoration Fund is subdivided into two main strands, each of which is further sub-divided, as follows:

1. The competitive strand, which is subdivided into:

• Projects less than £250k lasting 1-2 years;
• Projects greater than £250k lasting 2-4 years.

2. The Edinburgh Process strand:

• Direct allocations to Local Authorities and the National Parks;
• A competitive top-up fund open to Local Authorities only.

Due to the voluminous nature of the data, a spreadsheet containing the requested information has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. Number: 63496). Applications for the second part of the Edinburgh Process strand are currently being assessed.

Under Pollution Prevention and Control (Scotland) Regulations 2012, SEPA may only grant a permit in respect of a specified waste management activity if it is satisfied that planning permission is in force under the Town and Country Planning Act (Scotland) 1997 where the use of the site for the activity requires such permission. As such, SEPA are unable to issue permits if a facility does not have planning permission.

That is why, in line with Dr Church’s recommendation that no further planning permission is granted unless balanced by an equal or greater closure of capacity, (with limited exceptions for remote and rural areas, if fully justified) we will keep in place the Energy from Waste Notification Direction. This requires planning authorities to alert Scottish Ministers of new planning applications that involve incineration facilities and to notify Scottish Ministers if they are minded to grant planning permission to such facilities. This gives Ministers the opportunity to decide whether there are national interests at stake which would merit Ministers calling in an application for their own determination or to allow the local authority to issue the decision at local level.

Local authorities are responsible for and best placed to take decisions on contractual arrangements for the provision of waste services. The independent review of the role of incineration in the waste hierarchy recommended that when negotiating contracts for residual waste management, local authorities should specifically address the risks of lock-in.

Through Zero Waste Scotland, Scottish Government is providing additional support to help remaining local authorities secure appropriate residual waste contracts in preparation for the forthcoming ban on landfilling biodegradable municipal waste. This includes the provision of additional technical, legal and procurement advice.

Zero Waste Scotland is an independent, not-for-profit organisation. Its work in relation to staff wellbeing and working practices is an operational matter for the body. I have asked Zero Waste Scotland’s CEO to respond directly to you on this matter.

The Scottish Government has engaged with a wide range of drinks businesses throughout the policy development and implementation stages for our Deposit Return Scheme (DRS), including through two stages of consultation (running from 25 June 2018 – 25 September 2018 and 10 September 2019 – 10 December 2019) which any business could participate in. We have not carried out any engagement relating to DRS specifically directed at retailers selling hampers, parcels, or gift sets, but many such retailers would have been captured by this wider engagement.

Since July 2021 we have met representatives of small brewers on the following occasions: 5 August 2021, 7 September 2021, and 28 October 2021. This is in addition to small brewers’ representatives participating in wider Scottish Government engagement such as the DRS System-Wide Assurance Group.

The Scottish Government is already taking measures to reduce the quantity of plastic in the residual waste stream. In terms of reducing the proportion of recyclable materials (which include plastics) in residual waste streams, we have implemented bans on problematic single use plastic items and confirmed over £20 million-worth of investments in local recycling infrastructure from our £70 million Recycling Improvement Fund, funding a range of improvements including boosting Scotland’s capacity to recycle problematic materials like plastic films. Additionally, we are implementing Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme and reforming extended producer responsibility for packaging.

To build on this progress, our recently published Waste Route Map consultation contains a number of proposals to reduce the proportion of recyclable materials in the waste stream, including reducing consumption of single use items, mainstreaming reuse and improving recycling from households and businesses, for example, by facilitating the co-design of high quality, high performing household recycling and reuse services. The consultation on the Route Map also sets out a proposal for the Scottish Government to facilitate the development of a sector-led plan by 2024 to restrict the carbon impacts of incineration and proposes to work with the waste and resources sector to accelerate the reduction of the carbon impacts of existing incineration plants. We will begin by focusing on measures to divert the highest carbon-emitting materials from incineration, such as plastics.

Local authorities are responsible for the provision of local waste services and are, therefore, best placed to comment on the detail of contractual arrangements for residual waste treatment.

Based on information provided by local authorities, the majority of local authorities have residual waste arrangements in place that extend beyond 2025. However, although significant work is in progress, I understand that 12 local authorities currently do not yet have contractual arrangements beyond 2025 for the treatment of their residual waste which comply with the forthcoming ban on landfilling biodegradable municipal waste.

Based on information provided by local authorities, these are: Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, West Lothian Council, Dumfries and Galloway Council, Perth and Kinross Council, Clackmannanshire Council, Stirling Council, Argyll and Bute Council, West Dumbartonshire Council, Inverclyde Council, South Ayrshire Council, East Ayrshire Council, and Falkirk Council.

Through Zero Waste Scotland, Scottish Government is providing additional support to help remaining local authorities secure appropriate residual waste contracts in preparation for the forthcoming ban. This includes the provision of additional technical, legal and procurement advice.

The following table provides a breakdown by local authority area of all applications to the Vacant and Derelict Land Investment Programme received in Round 1, for funding in financial year 2021-22.