Shaping and Influencing Policy: Q1 22/23

We have seen a busy start to the first quarter of 2022/23 (April - June) with a range of different works going on across policy and research. We have welcomed the opportunity to get out and about a bit more this quarter – with a particular highlight being the Highland Show!

You can read the last issue of Shaping and Influencing Policy on our website.

Strategic engagement and working collaboratively

The Cross-Party Group on Circular Economy met for the second time in May to discuss the topic of waste management. The group provides MSPs with a source of information and expertise on issues relating to the Circular Economy. The group is convened by Maurice Golden MSP, and we form part of the secretariat for the group.

We value the collaborative work that we do with a range of partners across Scotland and our wider UK networks, allowing us to increase and extend our reach and engagement, particularly around those topics such as EPR and litter surveying.

We attended the Royal Highland Show, speaking with a range of our partners and discussing our offer with relevant prospective organisations and people.  It was wonderful to meet with people and organisations from across the rural sector after a two-year hiatus of the show due to COVID-19.

Developing and engaging with policy

We are a member of the  Cup Charge Advisory Group. The advisory group forms part of the Scottish Government’s proposal to introduce a charge for single-use disposable cups by 2025 through the Circular Economy Bill currently under consultation.

Scotland welcomed The Environmental Protection (Single-use Plastic Products) (Scotland) Regulations 2021 (the ‘Single-Use Plastics Ban’) into force on 1^st June 2022. This will become fully effective on 12^th August following the announcement from Scottish Government that the Single-Use Plastics Ban has secured exemption from the UK Internal Market Act 2020.

We continue to progress development of the new National Litter and Flytipping Strategy in partnership with Scottish Government and Zero Waste Scotland. The strategy is due to be published later in 2022.

There are currently four open consultations that we are developing responses to: Circular Economy Bill, Circular Economy Route Map to 2025, and Environmental Standards Scotland Draft Strategy which are all due to be submitted in August, and Scotland’s new Biodiversity Strategy which will be due in September.

Demonstrating expertise and credibility

We were delighted to announce our selection by the Alan Turing Institute for a research project seeking to understand the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in analysing images of litter with the goal of improving data collection during litter surveying. 

We submitted a response to the Scottish Government’s Call for Evidence: single-use food containers. The call for evidence is the Government’s first step in a comprehensive process to determine future policy decisions that relate to other single-use items used in Scotland. The process will include further stakeholder engagement and public consultation, and form part of Scotland’s net zero by 2045 target and the transition to a circular economy.