Circular Communities Scotland welcomes the publication of the Scottish Government’s ‘Circular Economy Strategy for Scotland’, an important step in Scotland’s journey to a more circular economy.
Circular Communities Scotland CEO Michael Cook said:
“It is very welcome to see the final Circular Economy Strategy for Scotland published and that it recognises the importance of circular economy in achieving environmental, economic and social goals.”
“Some welcome changes have been made to the draft document that strengthen key areas. However, while these go some way to addressing the suggestions we made in our consultation response, there are also aspects that still lack detail and could be bolder.”
“Circular Communities Scotland looks forward to working with the next government to ensure the strategy drives meaningful change so the benefits of a circular economy are felt by everyone in Scotland.”
“We are delighted that our new Circular Economy Policy Officer, Becky Kenton-Lake, is now in post and lead our work on this going forward.”
Circular Communities Scotland Circular Economy Policy Officer Becky Kenton-Lake said:
“The Circular Economy Strategy for Scotland is a critical document that is required to set out how Scotland will shift from a linear economy to a circular one that delivers real benefits for people, communities, and the planet.”
“The final strategy takes us further forward on this journey: it recognises the need to reduce overall consumption, includes a commitment to achieve sustainable levels of material use by 2045, and has more detail on how Scotland will seek to address negative international impacts caused by our material use.”
“However, we believe opportunities have been missed to support and recognise the role of the third sector, make stronger connections to delivering a just transition and the alleviation of poverty, and to commit to targets for increasing levels of reuse.”
“The forthcoming product stewardship plans and roadmaps for priority sectors will now be critical in delivering meaningful change to how we manage resources.”
About the Circular Economy Strategy for Scotland
The strategy is required under the Circular Economy (Scotland) Act, passed in 2024, and Circular Communities Scotland, the networks 260+ members and the wider sector had the opportunity to shape the final version through a consultation process on the draft strategy earlier this year.
The strategy
- Visions and outcomes
- The vision is:
“By 2045 Scotland will be a net zero and nature positive nation helped directly by the significant progress in transitioning towards a circular economy with sustainable levels of material use.
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.”
- The outcomes are based around four themes:
- Economy
- Environment
- International
- Social
- Policy mechanisms
- Business support
- Behaviour and systems change
- Place-based approaches
- Procurement
- Due diligence
- Skills and education
- Circular economy data
- Policy alignment
- Priority Sectors
- The Built Environment
- Energy Infrastructure
- Textiles
- Transport
- The Food System
- Product Stewardship
Tackling specific products based on the environmental and social impact:
- Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE)
- Batteries
- End of life vehicles (ELVs)
- End of life fishing gear
- Textiles
- Mattresses
- Furniture
- Monitoring and Indicator Framework
How progress against each of the outcomes will be measured.
Circular Communities Scotland is committed to listening to, supporting and representing our membership as we continue the journey to securing a more circular economy for Scotland.
For more information or to discuss our policy work, email becky@circularcommunities.scot.