Circular Economy (Scotland) Bill – SGF Summary
Relevant links: Circular Economy (Scotland) Bill as Introduced - Explanatory Notes - Scottish Parliament Overview - Scottish Government Press Release
Overview:
The Circular Economy (Scotland) Bill lays legislative the groundwork for the Scottish Government and introduction of measures to develop a circular economy. While the Bill does not provide specific details of the intended policies and objectives, it marks the start of the process toward the development of a circular economy. With subsequent potential outcomes, both positive and negative, for business, the Scottish Economy and the convenience retail sector.
The legislation requires Ministers to introduce new policy objectives in the coming years, including: publishing a circular economy strategy; developing circular economy targets; reducing waste; increasing penalties for littering from vehicles; making sure individual householders and businesses get rid of waste in the right way; and, improving waste monitoring.
The Scottish Government report that the Bill will give Ministers powers to:
Set local recycling targets, building on the experience of Wales, which has the best recycling rate in the UK.
Set statutory targets for delivery of a circular economy to measure progress in reducing waste and the nation’s carbon footprint.
Ban the disposal of unsold consumer goods, to prevent good products ending up in landfill.
Place charges on single-use items like coffee cups to encourage the move to reusable alternatives.
The Bill also requires the Scottish Ministers to publish a draft circular economy strategy and to consult on the preparation of the strategy.
Key provisions:
Section 8 of the Bill adds a new section to the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009, which gives the Scottish Ministers a power to make regulations imposing prohibitions or restrictions on the disposal of unsold consumer goods. The term “consumer goods” is defined as those intended to be purchased, used or consumed by a consumer.
Section 9 of the Bill introduces a new section to the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009 which gives the Scottish Ministers a power to introduce a charge for the supply of a single-use item.
Section 17 of the Bill modifies the Regulatory Reform (Scotland) Act 2014. This imposes potential duties to report on non-domestic waste and surplus etc. With the objective of obtaining information about where waste and surplus is occurring through the actions of businesses and organisations (the intention is for this initially to be applied to information about food).