Draft circular economy strategy: initial child rights and wellbeing impact consideration

1. Draft Circular Economy Strategy - Brief Summary

Draft Circular Economy Strategy Vision

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.

What is a circular economy?

Scotland currently has a mainly linear economy which means we extract materials which are turned into products and then they are discarded. In a circular economy, products and materials are kept in circulation through processes like maintenance, reuse, refurbishment, remanufacture, recycling, and composting – minimising waste and maximising the potential of resource use for commercial and competitive advantages.

The principles of a circular economy are to keep 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.

A circular economy will be fundamental to tackling the current climate change, nature crises and other global challenges, like biodiversity loss, waste, and pollution, by decoupling economic activity from the consumption of finite resources. To do this we need to take 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.

Utilising these circular economy principles will provide opportunities to strengthen our communities by providing local and sustainable employment opportunities and access to lower cost goods. For example, increasing opportunities for reuse and repair can shorten and strengthen supply chains, potentially provide lower cost options for householders through mechanisms such as sharing libraries, and teach skills to people of all ages through repair cafes. It can also address some of the environmental blights on communities through reduced littering.

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.

The draft strategy aims to improve the wellbeing of everyone in Scotland, including children and young people. The Strategy aims to ensure that everyone can enjoy the life-supporting benefits the environment provides. This includes improving people’s health and wellbeing, tackling poverty and inequalities, and supporting green jobs and businesses in the transition to net zero by 2045.

The priorities set out in the strategy aim to support the achievement of our net-zero ambitions, the restoration of nature and a thriving economy that meets societal needs.It will aim to help reduce the negative global impact of our production and consumption and help people and businesses gain the skills and knowledge to benefit from a shift to a more circular economy.

The Circular Economy 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.