Delivering Scotland's circular economy - route map to 2025 and beyond: technical annex

This annex sets out the evidence base and rationale underpinning the consultation Route Map: Delivering Scotland’s circular economy, identifying our progress to date and the case for further change to meet our waste and recycling targets.


Footnotes

1. A Fairer, Greener Scotland: Programme for Government 2021-22

2. Securing a green recovery on a path to net zero: climate change plan 2018-2032 - update

3. Scotland's Zero Waste Plan (2010)

4. Safeguarding Scotland's Resources - A Programme for the Efficient Use of Our Materials: Analysis of Consultation Responses (2013)

5. For the household recycling target the most recent data available is 2020. For the three 'all waste' targets, the most recent data available is 2018. SEPA has published 2020 landfill tonnages, but to calculate a landfill rate requires an 'all waste' generation figure, and the latest data is 2018.

6. For further details please see SEPA waste data

7. Securing a green recovery on a path to net zero: climate change plan 2018–2032 - update - gov.scot

8. Covering waste disposed of to landfill sites, waste incineration, and the treatment of waste water

9. According to SEPA, between 2011-18 the amount of construction and demolition waste generated varied by -26.9% to +26.1%.

10. The Carbon Footprint of Scotland's Waste: Carbon Metric Summary Report 2017 & 2018

11. Safeguarding Scotland's Resources - A Programme for the Efficient Use of Our Materials: Analysis of Consultation Responses

12. Report: How much food and drink waste is there in Scotland?

13. Report: Detailing the scope of Scotland's food and drink waste prevention targets

14. See Commission Implementing Decision (EU) on a format for reporting of data on food waste

15. See SEPA's waste sites and capacity data tool

16. Courtauld Commitment 2025 food waste baseline for 2015

17. ONS UK Business Activity Workbook available for download here.

18. WRAP synthesis of household food waste compositional data

19. National Records of Scotland Population Estimates Time Series Data

20. UK progress against Courtauld 2025 targets and UN Sustainable Development Goal 12.3

21. WRAP: Life under Covid-19: Food waste attitudes and behaviours in 2020

22. WRAP: Food waste trends survey 2021

23. Zero Waste Scotland : The Carbon Footprint of Scotland's Waste, Carbon Metric Technical Report 2017 & 2018, https://www.zerowastescotland.org.uk/sites/default/files/2017-18%20ZWS%20Carbon%20Metric%20Technical%20Report%20V02.00.pdf

24. See table 3.3 in The carbon footprint of Scotland's waste technical report.

25. Scotland generated 70.4 Million tonnes of CO2eq in 2018, according to Scotland's Carbon Footprint. This assumes the carbon impacts of Scotland's food waste are included in Scotland's carbon footprint.

26. The composition of household waste at the kerbside in 2014-2015, Zero Waste Scotland, 2017

27. In 2019 local authorities collected 1.01 million tonnes of kerbside residual waste, compared to approximately 1.13 million tonnes used in the original waste composition analysis project.

28. The Carbon Footprint of Scotland's Waste: Carbon Metric Summary Report 2017 & 2018 The Carbon Footprint of Scotland's Waste: Carbon Metric Summary Report 2017 & 2018

29. The Carbon Footprint of Scotland's Household Waste: 2019 Household Carbon Metric Brief The Carbon Footprint of Scotland's Household Waste: 2019 Household Carbon Metric Brief

30. Waste landfilled in Scotland, SEPA waste data, 2020

31. In 2011 incineration accounted for approximately 400,000 tonnes of waste, by 2020 this had increased to over 1.25 million tonnes.

32. For clarity no assumption is made regarding the food waste prevention target, which in practice will also be subject to the ban on landfilling BMW.

33. Behaviour change in organisations can be individual level (e.g., "turn off the lights"), but can be reinforced or undermined by policies, procedures, and organisational hierarchies. It is likely to be complex, involving organisational decision-making structures, formal upskilling, and / or explicit cost-benefit calculations. While some learning is transferable, we focus here on non-work situations.

34. This list is adapted from House of Lords, Science and Technology Committee -Second Report Behaviour Change, Chapter 2. The items and examples in the list are not wholly distinct but give a good sense of the range of options.

35. Lower value deposits, expected to be quickly redeemed, should make little or no difference to demand, but in other contexts may shape purchasing choices and encourage end of life behaviours.

36. See Scottish Government's User Guide for the ISM Tool

37. Making Peace with Nature, United Nations Environment Programme (2021)

38. Scotland's Materials Flow Accounting, Zero Waste Scotland (2021)

39. Managing and conserving the natural resource base for sustained economic and social development, UNEP International Resource Panel (2014)

40. Scotland's Carbon Footprint report 1998-2017

41. Safeguarding Scotland's Resources - A Programme for the Efficient Use of Our Materials: Analysis of Consultation Responses (2013)

42. Making Things Last: A Circular Economy Strategy for Scotland

43. For example, see Why #Every2ndcounts this May

44. White, K., Habib, R., Hardisty, D., (2019), How to SHIFT Consumer Behaviours to be More Sustainable: A Literature Review and Guiding Framework, Journal of Marketing

45. World Economic Forum (2021), Future of Reusable Consumption Models: Platform for Shaping the Future of Consumption, Insight Report

46. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2022), Climate Change 2022 – Mitigation of Climate Change, Working Group III, Sixth Assessment Report of the IPCC

47. Consultation on the Waste Prevention Programme for England: Towards a Resource-Efficient Economy

48. The Carbon Footprint of Scotland's Household Waste - 2020 Household Carbon Metric Brief

49. Black, I, and Eiseman, D, 2019, Climate Change Behaviours -Segmentation Study

50. OECD (2008), Promoting Sustainable Consumption: Good Practices in OECD Countries

51. Scotland's Carrier Bag Charge One Year On report, Zero Waste Scotland (2015)

52. The English Carrier Bag Charge Changed Behaviour and Increased Support for Other Charges to Reduce Plastic Waste, Thomas et al, Frontiers in Psychology (2019)

53. See Network of sharing libraries and repair cafes

54. For further information see Zero Waste Scotland information on the Revolve Certification

55. ReTuna in Sweden is a globally recognised example of a reuse superstore which covers 5,000 square feet, 3,600 of which can be leased by individual organisations, and which is funded and operated by the local municipality who own the building. There is a collection and sorting facility integrated into the building, and around 15 stores sell a diverse range of products including sportswear, furniture, fashion items and toys. In 2020, Ikea opened a 'pop up' second-hand furniture store within ReTuna, selling products returned by customers and providing an outlet for damaged furniture. The stores all pay rent which includes access to the donated goods and the administrative costs of the supply of goods. There was an initial subsidy in years 1 to 3 but all are expected to operate a financially viable business model. ReTuna also hosts events, exhibitions and workshops, a one-year education programme and a café on site. The aim of these additional services is to both attract visitors and raise awareness of the concept of reuse. ReTuna employs over 50 people on the site and welcomes between 250,000 and 300,000 visitors per year.

56. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2022), Climate Change 2022 – Mitigation of Climate Change, Working Group III, Sixth Assessment Report of the IPCC

57. Enablers are projects, outputs, outcomes, capabilities, or activities that lead to benefits.

58. WRAP survey data suggests that 81% of people are concerned about climate change, but only 32% see a link between food waste and climate change.

59. Eating Greener | Net Zero Nation

60. Christiano, A., & Neimand, A. (2017). Stop Raising Awareness Already. SSIR, 15(2), 34–41.

61. See The Principles of Behaviour Change Communications

62. See Influencing behaviours: ISM technical guide

63. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2022), Climate Change 2022 – Mitigation of Climate Change, Working Group III, Sixth Assessment Report of the IPCC

64. Jeswani, Harish K., Gonzalo Figueroa-Torres, and Adisa Azapagic. "The extent of food waste generation in the UK and its environmental impacts." SPC 26 (2021): 532-547.

65. Surplus food redistribution in the UK 2015-2020

66. House of Commons Library: Food Banks in the UK

67. See IFAN's latest figures collated from Scotland's independent food banks

68. See The Food Foundation: New data shows food insecurity major challenge to levelling up agenda

69. Scottish Government: Distillery by-products, livestock feed and bio-energy use: report

70. Zero Waste Scotland Carbon Metric

71. Schestak, I., Styles, D., Black, K. and Williams, A.P., 2022. Circular use of feed by-products from alcohol production mitigates water scarcity.SPC, 30, pp.158-170.

72. Report for ClimateXChange: Whisky by-products in renewable energy

73. Stegmann, P., Londo, M. and Junginger, M., 2020. The circular bioeconomy: Its elements and role in European bioeconomy clusters. Resources, Conservation & Recycling: X, 6, p.100029.

74. Scotland CAN DO: an innovation action plan for Scotland

75. This shows the location of AD facilities in Scotland with a clear cluster across the central belt:. SEPA waste site return data shows that organic waste is transferred from across Scotland to the central belt.

76. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2022), Climate Change 2022 – Mitigation of Climate Change, Working Group III, Sixth Assessment Report of the IPCC

77. The Food Waste Reduction Roadmap Progress Report 2020

78.The total number of food-related businesses is known, but existing data cannot provide a specific number of SME food businesses. The range quoted represents the minimum and maximum based on several methods of estimating the number of businesses classes as micro, small, medium and large.

79. Assuming a simple linear relationship.

80. Previous research by WRAP described barriers to recycling broadly as situation, behaviour, knowledge and attitudes. See Jesson, J.K., Pocock, R.L. Stone, I. (2014) Barriers to Recycling: A review of evidence since 2008, M-E-L Research, for WRAP

81.Complexity refers to both the range of materials used in products (e.g composite packaging, electricals) and how they are designed, constructed and marketed, and the subsequent ability to recycle and repair products.

82. For example, only 64% of plastic packaging was classed as "recyclable", see The UK Plastics Pact Annual Report 2019-20, WRAP

83. Daniel Kahneman, Thinking, Fast and Slow, 2011,

84. During previous waste composition analysis non-target materials (which are items that could be recycled in current services, but which have been placed in the wrong container – e.g. glass in a paper collection) and non-recyclable wastes (which are items that cannot be recycled in current kerbside services) typically make up 19% of the overall recycling bin.

85. Increasing recycling in urban areas, WRAP

86. Making recycling work for people in flats

87. WRAP report: Barriers to recycling: A review of evidence since 2008

88. SEPA Household Waste Data

89. WRAP (2015), Analysis of recycling performance and waste arisings in the UK 2012/13

90. Zero Waste Scotland: Charter for Household Recycling

91. Scottish Government: £70 million fund to improve recycling

92. EU Implementation Plan for the Revised Waste Framework Directives

93. Williams, P., (2019), Comparative Analysis of the Policies and Practices Associated with High Household Recycling Rates, Zero Waste Scotland

94. Eunomia, (2021), Review of High Performing Recycling Systems, research for the Scottish Government

95. Waste Management Intelligent Systems and Policies, Interreg Europe: Good Practice Projects

96. Refer to: The Behaviour Change Wheel: A guide to designing interventions

97. EU Implementation Plan for the Revised Waste Framework Directives

98. Eunomia, (2021), Review of High Performing Recycling Systems, research for the Scottish Government

99. Direct Variable Charging (DVC) is measure to incentivise source-segregation and waste prevention for producers of household and municipal waste. DVC is also used to provide a stable revenue to support overall service delivery, and is employed as a policy to incentivise waste reduction and increased recycling in other countries. For example, in a study from 2012, seventeen EU member states employed schemes for municipal waste. For more see Skumatz, L.A., Freeman, D.J., 2006. Pay as you Throw (PAYT) in the US: 2006 Update and Analyses and Watkins et al, 2012, Use of economic instruments and waste management performances

100. SEPA estimate

101. SEPA waste data

102. For example, there have been significant decreases in paper use in recent years.

103. See Tolvik Briefing: COVID-19 and UK Waste Sector

104. Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging consultation (2021)

105. SEPA informatics – waste from all sources

106. SEPA informatics; key figures: recycled C&D waste, excluding soil and stones

107. SEPA waste from all sources: waste data tables 2018

108. See Zero Waste Scotland information on circular construction for additional information

109. For example, see New Community of Practice for construction soil management (ciria.org)

110. For example Hybrid Input-Output Analysis of Embodied Carbon and Construction Cost Differences between New-Build and Refurbished Projects, Langston et al (2018) Sustainability 10(9), AECOM The carbon and business case for choosing refurbishment over new build and Refurbishment & Demolition of Housing. Embodied Carbon: Factsheet, University College London

111. For example, see SICEF white paper

112. Statista, Number of construction firms in Scotland in 3rd quarter 2019, by size

113. See Zero Waste Scotland guidance on creating a site waste management plan

114. For examples see Materialrest24, Retrovius, FCRBE, Buildings As Material Banks, New Horizon

115. Scottish Landfill Tax - Taxes - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

116. Scottish Government: Aggregates Levy

117. Scottish Landfill Tax - Taxes - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

118. See page 14

119. Incineration accounted for approximately 400,000 tonnes of waste in 2011 and 1.25 million tonnes in 2020. See Waste Incinerated in Scotland Data Tables

120. Stop, Sort, Burn, Bury - incineration in the waste hierarchy: independent review

121. The composition of household waste at the kerbside in 2014-15,. Zero Waste Scotland. (2017).

122. See The climate change impact of burning municipal waste in Scotland Technical Report and The 2017-18 ZWS Carbon Metric Technical Report (Annex 2a)

123. Sorting residues aka 'trommel fines' are difficult to deal with and a major focus of non-compliant activity in the waste industry. There is very limited use of this fraction as it stands and, depending on the source and composition it may be only suitable for further sorting, incineration, or landfill.

124.The report makes a provisional recommendation that "The Scottish Government should immediately strengthen existing requirements for pre-treatment and work with local authorities and industry to apply them to all existing and future incineration facilities to remove as much recyclable material as feasible, with a particular focus on plastics."

125. The Climate Change Committee recommended in a report to UK Government that government needs to "address with urgency the rising emissions from, and use of, Energy from Waste"

126. Developing the UK Emissions Trading Scheme

127. Denmark's Integrated National Energy and Climate Plan: The Danish model takes a dual approach of taxing the energy generated and the quantity of fossil carbon utilised in the production of that energy

128. A Fairer, Greener Scotland: Programme for Government 2021-22

129. Securing a green recovery on a path to net zero: climate change plan 2018-2032 - update

130. The Panel consisted of twelve experts with experience of working with waste data or currently working in the waste management industry, and included consultants, representatives from the waste management industry, academics, and researchers.

131. Oakley J. E. and O'Hagan, A. (2019). SHELF: the Sheffield Elicitation Framework (version 4). School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Sheffield, UK.

Contact

Email: circulareconomy@gov.scot

Back to top