Chamber and committees

The UK Government undertakes scoping assessments prior to negotiations, and impact assessments on completion of an FTA, which detail the likely economic, social and environmental impacts of a new FTA. Those consider opportunities for increased trade in environmental goods and impacts on trade with third countries.

In our engagement with the UK Government on all trade negotiations, the Scottish Government has consistently requested more detailed assessments of the economic impacts on Scotland. We believe that before embarking on the negotiation of such agreements, the UK Government should be fully aware of their likely impacts across all parts of the UK. Net zero and environmental commitments should be a core part of scoping and impact assessments.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of developing a circular economy for electric vehicle batteries and supported Zero Waste Scotland in commissioning research which indicated that by 2030 there could be up to 16,000 tonnes of vehicle batteries in Scotland potentially available for reuse, remanufacturing or recycling.

However, current UK and European Union legislation dictates that the battery manufacturer remains responsible for the collection, recycling and disposal of the battery.

Scottish Enterprise are currently progressing enquiries from businesses in the electric vehicle and battery preprocessing sector which may be suitable to invest and locate in Scotland. Scottish Enterprise are work closely with each company in order to maximise Scotland’s ability to take advantage of emerging market opportunities in this sector.

The Scottish Government does not hold data on the number of employees in waste collection and management in each local authority area.

Local authorities are responsible for decisions relating to the operation and delivery of waste management in their area. This means that local authorities operate different systems of waste separation, making local authorities themselves best placed to inform and educate residents on the systems and services available to them locally and any separation required.

The Circular Economy (Scotland) Act 2024 set out that Scotland will move from a voluntary to a statutory household recycling Code of Practice to deliver better and more consistent recycling services. A benefit of the increased standardisation across Scotland would be to enable effective national communications on waste separation best practice.

Due to the nature of the projects RIF has supported and the timescales for waste data reporting there is a lag between projects being completed and impact data being available.

The Scottish Government invested in battery reprocessing and recycling facilities through the Recycling Improvement Fund, but these were delivered prior to the 2024-25 financial year.

We have noted the recommendations in the SAWC report and are giving them careful consideration.

The following table provides the full list of projects funded through the Recycling Improvement Fund with a breakdown of the projected tonnage and funding allocated to each project, for which tonnage increase is a direct impact. N/A indicates projects where recycling tonnage impacts are indirect to the project e.g. in-cab technology for drivers.

Scotland has made significant progress in reducing waste, increasing recycling and decarbonising the waste sector, but there is further work to be done. The Circular Economy (Scotland) Act 2024 and Circular Economy & Waste Route Map set out Scottish Government plans to introduce a statutory Code of Practice for household waste services to accelerate improvements to both the quality and quantity of recycling.

The 5-year Recycling Improvement Fund will conclude at the end of 2025-26, at which point the Scottish Government will review the overall Project.