- Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 19 May 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Lorna Slater on 6 June 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether it (a) has conducted and (b) plans to conduct an analysis of how successful the ban on single-use plastics has been since it was introduced in 2022.
Answer
The Environmental Protection (Single-use Plastic Products) (Scotland) Regulations 2021 came into force in June 2022 as part of the Scottish Government’s commitment to move to a more circular economy and tackle the environmental impact of the most problematic single-use plastic products.
Over seven hundred million of these products were estimated to be used in Scotland every year before the Regulations came into force, including three hundred million single-use plastic straws and over two hundred and fifty million pieces of single-use plastic cutlery.
Now that the regulations have been in place for almost a year, we will evaluate progress and this will inform our approach to continuing to support businesses to comply with requirements.
- Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 19 May 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Lorna Slater on 6 June 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what (a) plans it made and (b) resources it provided to local authorities to enforce the ban on single-use plastics introduced in 2022.
Answer
Enforcement of the Environmental Protection (Single-use Plastic Products) (Scotland) Regulations 2021 is the responsibility of local authorities, who have autonomy to allocate the resources available to them based on local needs and priorities. The Scottish Government is providing an additional £793 million of funding to local authorities in 2023-24.
In addition to guidance published on the Scottish Government website in advance of the Regulations, Zero Waste Scotland delivered an awareness raising campaign in the six months prior to the Regulations coming into force to increase business and public awareness of the Regulations. We will continue to support businesses to comply with requirements.
- Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 19 May 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Lorna Slater on 6 June 2023
To ask the Scottish Government when the Waste Route Map to 2025 will be published, in light of its consultation stating that the full route map would be published in early 2023.
Answer
The Circular Economy & Waste Route Map sets out how we intend to deliver our system-wide, comprehensive vision for Scotland's Circular Economy by outlining tangible actions the Scottish Government and others must take to accelerate progress.
The responses to the Route Map consultation have been published, and we are considering this feedback carefully as part of the development of the Route Map, alongside ongoing assessment of impacts. Analysis of the consultation findings will be published in due course.
We intend to consult on a draft Route Map, before bringing forward a final Waste Route Map later this year.
- Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 19 May 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Lorna Slater on 6 June 2023
To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the period of five weeks was chosen as the timescale for receiving applications for the latest funding round of the Circular Textiles Fund.
Answer
The first stage of the Circular Textile Fund is the submission of an Expression of Interest, a high-level overview of the project, and the 5 week timescale provides a suitable amount of time to prepare this. Zero Waste Scotland runs weekly webinars during this period to support applicants. Feedback received from applicants, following round 1, was that increasing the time available for the second stage submission phase, where detailed information is needed, would be welcomed. Accordingly, Zero Waste Scotland extended time for the second stage of submissions to 8 weeks.
- Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 19 May 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Lorna Slater on 5 June 2023
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-08343 by Lorna Slater on 12 May 2022, when the four reports on steel, referred to in its answer, will be made publicly available, in light of it being over a year since its answer.
Answer
Zero Waste Scotland is progressing two life cycle analysis reports of the impact of secondary steel production as an update to the published carbon assessment. The other three reports referred to in the answer to question S6W-08343 have been amalgamated into one report. These reports are all expected to be published in 2023-24.
- Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 19 May 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Lorna Slater on 5 June 2023
To ask the Scottish Government when it plans to publish the analysis of its call for evidence on single-use food containers and other single-use items, conducted from April to June 2022.
Answer
The purpose of the Scottish Government’s call for evidence was to gather evidence to inform policy development on how to reduce consumption of single-use food containers and other single use items. All responses to the call for evidence have been published, where consent was given to do so, here: https://consult.gov.scot/environment-forestry/single-use-items/consultation/published_select_respondent . The Scottish Government will publish an analysis of the call for evidence this year.
- Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 19 May 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Lorna Slater on 5 June 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what support it has made available for small-scale circular textiles projects with resource needs of less than £25,000.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-18098 on 5 June 2023. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers
- Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 19 May 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Lorna Slater on 5 June 2023
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-17389 by Lorna Slater on 10 May 2023, how the potential financial impact of advanced payments on affected companies was assessed prior to announcing the recent delay to the scheme; whether it will provide (a) details of any experts that were consulted on the likely financial impact of advance payments on affected companies and (b) any advice received, and whether it will publish the final assessment of the likely financial impact that was used to inform its decision to delay the launch of the scheme until 1 March 2024.
Answer
Circularity Scotland is a private not for profit company. Decisions regarding advanced payments is a matter for them and it would not be appropriate for the Scottish Government to comment in such commercial arrangements between private companies.
One of the many factors the Scottish Government took into account when considering the timing of launch of the Deposit Return Scheme was feedback from stakeholders. We are grateful to all businesses for the investment they have made in preparing for the launch of the deposit return scheme and this investment will be important for the success of the scheme when it launches.
- Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 May 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 2 June 2023
To ask the Scottish Government how it educates and engages primary and secondary school pupils on issues related to any disconnects between raw material extraction and end product use.
Answer
Curriculum for Excellence is a flexible curriculum with defined experiences and outcomes that allow for teaching and learning of a very wide range of topics. This ensures that schools are able to deliver a curriculum that is best suited to their learners in their circumstances and local context.
Learning for Sustainability, which is an entitlement for all learners, provides the general curricular theme on sustainable development education, social justice, climate change, global citizenship, children’s rights, equality and outdoor learning.
There are experiences and outcomes across the curriculum that cover learning on material extraction and end product use such us: Sciences SCN 4-04b: “Through investigation I can explain the formation and use of fossil fuels and contribute to discussions on the responsible use and conservation of finite resources”; Social Studies SOC 4-08a: “I can discuss the sustainability of key natural resources and analyse the possible implications for human activity”; and Technology TCH 2-06a “I can analyse how lifestyles can impact on the environment and Earth’s resources and can make suggestions about how to live in a more sustainable way”.
- Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 May 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Patrick Harvie on 1 June 2023
To ask the Scottish Government how much funding has been provided through Scotland’s Heat Network Fund to support combined heat and power initiatives at incineration plants, broken down by facility.
Answer
Scotland’s Heat Network Fund (SHNF) provides funding for primary and secondary heat network infrastructure. This includes projects that utilise waste heat from existing incineration plants to provide low carbon, affordable heat to local consumers. Under the scheme, £5.6 million was committed in August 2022 to the extension of the Torry Heat Network which uses waste heat from an energy from waste plant. The Low Carbon Infrastructure Transition Programme (LCITP) awarded £5.78m for Phase 1 in November 2020.
LCITP awarded £7.3m in January 2020 to Midlothian Council to build a heat network using waste heat from the Millerhill incineration plant.
SHNF is focused on the construction of heat networks and doesn’t cover the installation of electricity generation equipment.