Draft circular economy strategy: equality impact assessment

Summary of aims and desired outcomes of Policy:

1. This Draft Equality Impact Assessment has been prepared to accompany a public consultation on a Draft Circular Economy Strategy for Scotland (The Strategy).

2. The Scottish Government is committed to transitioning to a circular economy as a means of addressing the climate and nature crises while delivering sustainable economic and social benefits. A circular economy keeps materials and products in use for as long as possible, thereby reducing demand for virgin resources, minimising waste, and maximising the value retained within the economy.

3. Around four-fifths of Scotland’s carbon footprint comes from the products and services we manufacture^[1], use and throw away and 90% of global biodiversity loss and water stress is caused by extraction and processing of these products^[2]. The Scottish Government is committed to delivering a different approach to our economy, one where we move from a "take, make and dispose" model to one where we value materials and keep them in use for as long as possible^[3].

4. The Scottish Government has set climate change ambitions to become a net zero greenhouse gas emitting nation by 2045^[4]. Sustainable resource use is key to tackling climate change and will be vital for our efforts to reduce Scotland’s global carbon footprint, and for other sectors to deliver their own net zero goals.

5. The Circular Economy (Scotland) Act 2024 places a statutory duty on Scottish Ministers to publish or revise a Circular Economy Strategy every five years. The 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 policy mechanisms, priority sectors, and product stewardship and the monitoring and evaluation of the growth of Scotland’s Circular Economy via a Circular Economy Monitoring and Indicator Framework.

6. These priorities aim to support the Strategy “Vision” set out below:

“By 2045 Scotland will be a net zero and nature positive nation helped directly by the significant progress in transitioning towards a circular economy.

Scotland will have a thriving economy that meets societal needs and is based on circular economy principles, and we will have reduced the negative global impact of our production and consumption.

People, businesses and the public sector will have the skills and knowledge to benefit from opportunities arising from a circular economy and these will be fairly distributed across society.”

7. The Strategy builds on Scotland’s Circular Economy and Waste Route Map to 2030. While the Route Map focuses on sustainable resource use and reducing the carbon impact of our waste, the Strategy sets out the strategic direction for the future and how circularity will be embedded across the economy by looking at sectors, systems and products. Future interventions that relate to the Strategy’s priorities may include policy proposals, potential legislative measures, and supporting activity to drive systemic change across production, consumption and disposal of materials and products in Scotland.