A Circular Economy Strategy for Scotland – Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment (BRIA)

Section 5: Next steps and implementation

Recommendations/ preferred options

The Circular Economy Strategy is laid in Parliament to comply with the Circular Economy (Scotland) Act 2024. This final version has been updated following the public consultation which ran from 21 October 2025 to 13 January 2026. All associated documents including this BRIA were updated following an analysis of the responses. This BRIA is published alongside the final Strategy document.

Implementation considerations/ plan

Analysis of the consultation and a report detailing how the Scottish Government’s responded to it has been published in addition to the Strategy. Furthermore, Scottish Ministers must have due regard to the Strategy when making policies (including proposals for legislation).

Where interventions are designed to respond to the priorities set out in the Strategy, it is important that there is full consideration with businesses to assess and review the potential impacts on them. This will be essential in mitigating any implications and costs to businesses in future.

The Scottish Government will work closely with key stakeholders to ensure that the Strategy’s priorities are met. Collaboration and partnership have been critical to our progress so far, success can only be achieved through effective partnership working – government, wider public sector, households, communities, charities and businesses. Our approach to working with local authorities will be guided by the Verity House Agreement.^[33]

Post implementation review

This Strategy is intended to provide a high-level framework for Scotland’s transition to a circular economy, setting out a broad vision and outcomes as well as priorities, across cross-cutting themes, priority sectors and product stewardship. It sets out plans for evaluating the growth of Scotland’s Circular Economy via the CEMIF. Further to this, the detail for monitoring and evaluating the Strategy’s individual priorities will be set out, where appropriate, as they are being developed in the future.

The Scottish Government reiterates its commitment to work in partnership with businesses and other stakeholders to assess the full impacts of interventions resulting from the Strategy’s priorities as they are further defined to ensure they remain feasible, impactful and deliver value for money. For example, measures may need to consider further individual and cumulative impacts on the environment, public spending, the cost to business including small and medium-sized enterprises, consumer choice and affordability, equality, socioeconomic and island communities’ impact.

Ministers must report on progress delivering this Strategy as soon as practicable after the end of each reporting period (i.e. 2.5 years following the publication of the Strategy).