Chamber and committees

We are currently in the process of evaluating minimum unit pricing (MUP) as a whole over its first five years of operation. Public Health Scotland will be producing a final report on MUP in 2023, which includes assessing the impact of MUP on health, crime, public safety and public nuisance in Scotland, and the impact on the alcohol industry. This will inform our evaluation report which will be laid in Parliament and published in 2023. In addition we will engage with a range of interested parties as set out in Alcohol (Minimum Pricing) (Scotland) Act 2012.

The Gateway Review was undertaken more than six months ago and has been superseded. A review carried out in October 2022 concluded that “the DRS Programme has gained increased momentum and is in a much improved position” and that go live in August 2023 is now “feasible”. This is testament to the efforts being made by industry, Circularity Scotland, and the Scottish Government, who are working together to ensure the scheme is implemented in full.

We are committed to a pragmatic approach to implementation. For example, in November 2022, we updated the return point exemptions guidance and in December the application forms to make it easier for retailers to apply for an exemption from acting as a return point, and streamlined the process for retailers and hospitality providers.

Also in December, I announced that we will bring forward amendments to the regulations so that initially only the largest grocery supermarkets will be obliged to provide an online takeback service; all other businesses will be exempt from online takeback obligations.

Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) will ensure a higher percentage of glass sent for recycling. Analysis from Zero Waste Scotland (ZWS) shows that presently only around 59% of mixed glass is recycled. DRS is expected to capture 80% of glass bottles in the first year of DRS, increasing to 90% thereafter, this will therefore increase the amount of overall glass sent for recycling.

ZWS supports local authorities to assess their recycling collection options to help align services with the Household Recycling Charter Code of Practice, as well as future proofing those services by understanding the impact of other measures such as DRS and Packaging Extended Producer Responsibility.

Currently, five funded projects are being delivered by local authorities in partnership with commercial partners, including third sector and/or for profit organisations:

• North Ayrshire

• Fife

• Aberdeen City (two projects)

• East Lothian

The funding programme is only open to local authorities and local authority-led partnerships, no applications were therefore received directly from commercial partners.

All local authorities will consider and monitor the impact of the scheme on glass collection after the implementation of Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS).

Zero Waste Scotland’s advice to local authorities is not to make service changes in advance of Scotland’s DRS launching and it is currently undertaking modelling of different options for local authorities to provide efficient kerbside glass recycling services and will share this with local authorities in due course.

We are supporting local authorities to modernise recycling services, align with our forthcoming deposit return scheme, and make it easier for households to recycle and increase local recycling rates.

The Scottish Government consulted on a Circular Economy Bill and Waste Route Map in summer 2022, setting out proposed actions that must be taken to meet Scotland's waste targets and deliver a circular economy in Scotland. This included a proposal to strengthen the approach to household recycling collection services through new co-designed statutory guidance to provide a clear strategic direction for recycling in Scotland, improve consistency of services for households, and accelerate improvements to both the quality and quantity of recycling collected to help meet our waste and climate change targets .

The analysis of consultation responses to the Bill was published in November 2022. Programme for Government states that the Circular Economy Bill will be introduced in this parliamentary year.

There has been no new assessment into the possibility of material switching in light of the recently published producer fees.

From 16 August 2023 SEPA will become the enforcement authority for the Deposit and Return Scheme for Scotland and as part of this will carry out audits, inspections and enforcement activity in relation to the obligations and offences contained within the regulations. Staff have been allocated accordingly.

SEPA is not empowered to investigate and report instances of fraud, but they have a close working relationship with Police Scotland who are the competent authority for this sort of criminality.

As stated in my answer to S6W-13230, these calculations are based on commercially sensitive data provided in confidence to ZWS by local authorities. Therefore, we will not provide a breakdown by local authority.

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

The Zero Waste Scotland (ZWS), ‘Batteries Are Better Recycled’ campaign ran in late February and early March 2021. The original campaign cost £7777.87, and reached just under 340,000 people through print and online, and around 192,500 people through social media. Analysis showed the campaign reached people in 15 out of 32 Scottish local authority areas.

Zero Waste Scotland expanded the campaign’s messaging in the first half of 2022 to include an additional focus on the fire hazards associated with incorrect disposal of batteries, for use by local authorities. This additional campaign material cost £3438.60, and was well-received by local authority partners.

No data is held on the campaign’s direct impact on battery recycling rates. As part of evaluation for campaigns, media coverage, social media tone and sentiment, use of campaign assets and toolkits, and qualitative feedback from key stakeholders and partners, including local authorities, are all routinely reviewed to assess campaign impact and uptake.

We do not hold information centrally on the Environment Services Association’s ‘Take Charge’ autumn 2022 campaign.