Current status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 12 November 2025
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the work that it is doing to promote reuse and recycle initiatives across the country.
The Circular Economy and Waste Route Map sets out the Scottish Government’s work to promote reuse and recycling initiatives.
Our reuse initiatives include a variety of actions aimed at increasing the uptake of reusable packaging, taking action on single-use cups, supporting the development of construction material reuse hubs and improving reuse services.
In partnership with the other governments in the UK, the Scottish Government recently introduced extended producer responsibility for packaging. The scheme transfers the net cost of providing an efficient and effective service for managing packaging waste from the taxpayer to producers. It is intended to incentivise a move towards more sustainable packaging and drive local authority recycling performance. Packaging that has been reused is also exempt from fees under the scheme to incentivise reuse. The Scottish Government are considering further measures to promote reuse, including the potential for alignment with measures within the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste
Zero Waste Scotland, as part of a consortium funded by the European Circular Construction Finance project, is developing a model for a regional reuse hub for construction materials and a national roll out plan to maximise coverage. The project will also include consideration of the role of these hubs in reprocessing and recertifying products and materials, addressing some of the barriers to availability of materials. The initiative has significant potential to help businesses navigate rising material costs, achieve net zero ambitions and develop more resilient supply chains.
Scottish Government action to improve local recycling is led by the co-design of the new statutory Code of Practice for household recycling. The Scottish Government held co-design events with local government stakeholders in June and July 2025. The findings from these sessions are being used to inform the planning of wider stakeholder engagement with business, the third sector and citizens in the coming months. The new Code of Practice will be completed by the end of 2026, after which it will be made available for public consultation.
We are also making one of the biggest investments in a generation to modernise recycling in Scotland through the Recycling Improvement Fund. A total of
£66.6 million has now been allocated to 27 local authorities for 48 projects to increase the quantity and quality of recycling across Scotland. We are funding a range of improvements, including more frequent recycling collections, the extension of food and garden waste collections, and boosting Scotland’s capacity to recycle problematic materials like plastic films, which must be collected from households and businesses by 31 March 2027. Local authorities in Scotland will also see around £150 million per year in funding to support collection for household packaging waste through extended producer responsibility (EPR) for packaging.
On 21 October 2025 we published our draft Circular Economy Strategy for consultation. The draft strategy sets out our vision and outcomes to move from a linear “take, make and dispose” economic model to a circular economy where materials and goods are valued and kept in use for as long as possible, including through reuse and recycling. The consultation will close on 13 January 2026.