Draft circular economy strategy: consultation

3. Policy Mechanisms

Developing a circular economy requires action across multiple policy areas to deliver systemic change to how we produce, use and consume goods and materials. This section sets out the policy mechanisms we are using to take us there, building on the Circular Economy and Waste Route Map actions.

Delivering change across policy areas is fundamental to the transition to a more circular economy. Building on our recent Circular Economy and Waste Route Map, the policy mechanisms we are using to create a circular economy are:

3.1 Business Support

Priority: Support to business to increase circular practices and business models

Influencing business behaviours, models and practices is vital. Zero Waste Scotland will launch a new Business Information Hub by March 2026 to be the home of guidance, best practice and tools. Zero Waste Scotland’s business support services will continue to provide targeted support to the business community and work with strategic partners to build capacity.

Our enterprise agencies - Scottish Enterprise (SE), Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE), and South of Scotland Enterprise (SOSE) - will continue to provide targeted support to help companies identify and capitalise on circular economy opportunities.

3.2 Behaviour Change

Priority: Empower consumers and organisations to adopt circular behaviours

Behaviour change underpins progress across all areas of this draft strategy and delivery of our Circular Economy and Waste Route Map. Evidence shows that many people want to reduce the carbon impact of the products that they buy but can struggle to move beyond low-impact changes.^[4]

In order to adopt circular economy lifestyles and actions, people must have the capability, opportunity and motivation to act. To enable these changes and address the barriers to action, the Scottish Government takes a systems thinking approach. This often involves an array of different interventions and policies – including regulation, infrastructure, and communications, for example – with the intent of changing the wider system, at all levels

While we all need to make changes, these changes must be supported by an enabling environment. Our Strategic Research Programme for waste and the circular economy^[5] will build our evidence base and inform the development of behaviour change approaches across policies, for the private, public and charity sectors including the development of sector roadmaps to support this change.

3.3 Place-based Approaches

Priority: Expand a place-based approach to the circular economy

A place-based approach to the circular economy recognises that the circumstances of communities in Scotland, of course, differ from place to place, and require local solutions. We will build on the place-based approach taken by Zero Waste Scotland, for example through its European-funded programme with regional Chambers of Commerce^[6] as well as its work to embed the Place Standard^[7] into its activities, and its partnerships with HIE and SOSE.

We will continue to embed circular economy principles with local transformation programmes such as Project Willow at Grangemouth, an initiative shaping a low-carbon future for one of Scotland’s most important industrial clusters that includes industrial biotechnology, sustainable feedstocks, and closed-loop manufacturing systems.^[8]

3.4 Procurement

Priority: Promote circular purchasing through procurement practices

Procurement is a high-value and high-volume activity within the public sector which spends more than £16 billion each year on buying goods, services and works. We will embed circularity into public sector procurement processes, helping to shift markets and mindsets, and build long term value chains that prioritise reuse, repair, and reduced material consumption, alongside an ongoing focus on human rights.

This includes considering new regulations to require purchasing goods with recycled content, recycled or reused products or future recyclable products. We will also develop guidance on enabling a circular approach to elements of facilities management in the public estate, for example lighting where products are retained, reused and remanufactured, extending their lifecycle. This also promotes energy efficiency, reducing both operational and lifecycle carbon.

We will continue to work with the UK Government on reserved issues including opportunities for proportionate due diligence measures which can be a key mechanism for improving supply chain sustainability but are largely reserved. We will also continue to work with the UK Government on its development of a National Baseline Assessment on the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, which will inform the UK Government’s approach to business and human rights abuses at home and abroad.

3.5 Skills and Education

Priority: Increase uptake of circular practices through improved skills and education

Skills and education are vital to increasing the uptake of circular practices. This is part of a wider shift needed for Scotland’s just transition to a net zero, nature positive, circular economy that brings with it the opportunity for new and innovative green jobs.

We will work across government and with relevant stakeholders to ensure circular skills are embedded within the programme of reform for our education and skills system. This reform will make the system more agile and responsive to our strategic skills needs, including those in sectors important to economic growth. It will help drive work with education and training providers, as well as with industry and employers, to support the green and circular skills needed by our workforce and economy both now and in the future.

Estimates of jobs relating to the circular economy vary depending on the methodology used with the recent State of the Circular Economy report identifying 4.4% of jobs as connected to the circular economy, whilst previous work identified 8.1% of jobs as connected to the circular economy^[9]. To maximise these, we need a greater understanding of the landscape in relation to provision of training, and gaps that may exist in terms of available training. As part of the monitoring and indicator framework, Zero Waste Scotland is developing a Circular Jobs Tracker that will be published by March 2026 and give greater insight into the opportunities available and being realised.

3.6 Circular Economy Data

Priority: Improve circular economy data availability, quality, and granularity

Robust, transparent, and accessible data is essential to enable and scale the circular economy, and to monitor our progress. The packaging Extended Producer Responsibility (pEPR) scheme and the forthcoming UK-wide Digital Waste Tracking service will drive improved data availability. We will also identify key evidence gaps and areas for collaboration through the UK-wide Circular Economy Analytical Group.

Scotland generated 9.55 million tonnes of waste in 2023, a reduction of around 20% since 2011, of which 86% was managed in Scotland. Material reprocessing is a cornerstone of Scotland’s transition to a circular economy and converting these waste materials into valuable new resources at their end of life not only opens up new economic opportunities but underpins our transition to net zero. The recently published Waste Reprocessing Infrastructure in Scotland Report summarises the current, planned and proposed waste reprocessing infrastructure across Scotland, the key policies in place to support the material value chain, and the main barriers and opportunities for its future development.

We will also work with other nations in the UK to understand how data developments at EU level might be applied in Scotland. This includes the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation^[10] which requires products to feature a Digital Product Passport to provide comprehensive information about each product’s origin, materials, environmental impact and disposal recommendations.

3.7 Policy alignment and systems thinking

Priority: Integrate circular economy principles across policy

A circular economy cuts across numerous Scottish Government policy ambitions and is embedded within the National Strategy for Economic Transformation, the Green Industrial Strategy, National Planning Framework 4, and the Onshore Wind Sector Deal for Scotland.^[11]

Circular principles also inform the National Manufacturing Institute in Scotland (NMIS)^[12] - an industry-led research and development group with a mission to make Scotland a global leader in advanced, sustainable manufacturing. NMIS has received £75m investment from the Scottish Government and its agencies.

More widely, Zero Waste Scotland has developed working partnerships, including with the Economic Development Association Scotland, to explore the role of circularity in economic policy and strategy.^[13]

By building on these links and continuing to develop future partnerships we will ensure better integration of circular economy principles, build stronger ownership, increase policy coherence, and maximise co-benefits.

A more circular economy cannot be achieved through isolated activities, and we need to take a systems-based approach that considers all elements of a system. Given the complexity and numerous factors that influence the production, design and flow of goods and materials, this approach is needed to both model and understand issues that impact the supply chain and it underpins the development of the roadmaps covered under the priority sectors section that follows.