Chamber and committees

Thanks very much, all.

We have talked about the re-use of food that has not been sold in various outlets. Colin Smith mentioned in his previous answer that there are some barriers. Will you follow up with the committee in detail on what those are? Potentially, that would be really helpful, and there might be opportunities to change some of that as we go through the legislative process.

That sounds like a reasonable restriction in some ways, but if there are considerations in which less waste can be achieved to the benefit of communities by providing them with food, it would be good to be aware of that.

Good morning. I will build on some of the previous answers. As has been said, many of the considerations around this primary legislation are to do with behaviour change. In fact, the policy memorandum states that the legislation is about moving towards sustainable consumption and production. However, a lot of that behaviour change is already happening, and the question for us as a Parliament is whether we require primary legislation and how that should be considered and implemented in order to accelerate the change that I think you have all communicated is a shared ambition.

A lot of that innovation is already taking place, so how should the Scottish Government and the Parliament, in its scrutiny, ensure that any future targets that are introduced using the powers in the bill strike the right balance between encouraging innovation and investment in circular business models and not disrupting the innovation that is already taking place?

Is there a need to have consistency of expectation from businesses? Some businesses more than others are already undertaking innovation. How challenging is the industry of others and any lesser commitment to sustainability? Do some businesses that are being more sustainable think, “Well, that’s not very fair. I’m putting in all this effort and cost to do my part, so why is my competitor not doing the same?” Will the bill help in that regard?

Section 9 is to do with considerations around charges for single-use items. You have touched on this somewhat already, but it would be good to hear what potential impacts you foresee from implementation of charges on single-use items. What are the key business opportunities and risks? When it introduces any further charges on single-use items, what lessons should the Scottish Government learn from its approach to previous environmental charges, such as the single-use carrier bag charge and aspects of the deposit return scheme?

I note the point that Colin Smith made earlier about there being certain circumstances in which a reciprocal arrangement is needed. Although we want to encourage people to use reusable products where they can, the circumstances are different when people are buying a beverage or going to a supermarket or any shop for physical goods. Can you talk through some of your considerations around that? It is the same issue, in principle, but the circumstances are quite important.

Does anyone have anything to add?

Thank you both very much for that.

Have we therefore seen a culture change universally?

I will build on that and go on to the next question.

As the convener opened with, much of the bill—in particular, the part that is relevant to you—is a framework. You have spoken about how, in certain circumstances, it may be beneficial to see more detail in the bill. I imagine that we will get into that in stage 2 of the process, but it would be useful to know about anything that you want to highlight at this juncture.

It is very normal to have framework aspects of legislation and then for secondary legislation to provide the detail on the greater policy analysis. However, sometimes, as you have highlighted, it is important to consider what could be in the bill. In a previous answer, Colin Smith talked about the right policy enablers. If you can add anything on that now, or as a follow-up, that would be interesting.