Zero Waste Scotland leads the country to use products and materials responsibly. Their activities accelerate and support Scotland’s just transition to zero waste and a circular economy. 

Zero Waste Scotland focuses their efforts where they know they can make an impact. This includes: 

• responsible consumption 

• responsible production 

• maximising value from waste 

They use our expertise and partnerships to support, influence policy, and encourage national and local government, community leaders, businesses and the public to embrace circular living. 

GDP or GDP Category (at NUTS 3 level) Eurostat, same as cohesion policy 2019: This information will be filled up at a later stage

Urban rural predominance: Urban and Rural 

In 2016, ‘Making Things Last’, Scotland's first CE strategy was published by the Scottish Government. It set out priorities for the nation, moving towards a more circular model, where products and materials are kept in high value use for as long as possible. It builds on Scotland’s progress in the zero waste and resource efficiency agendas. 

More recently, the Scottish Government has been developing a Circular Economy Routemap. The Routemap is intended to lay the foundations for the system-wide transformation we need to deliver through to 2030. It sets out the priority actions that will unlock progress across the waste hierarchy; and outlines how we will deliver and coordinate these actions to achieve maximum positive impact for communities and businesses in Scotland.  

At the time of writing (June 2024) the Circular Economy Bill is being considered by Parliament and is at Stage 3. If passed, it will introduce powers for the Government to develop legislation to further drive circularity in Scotland. 

Zero Waste Scotland

Customer Service & Support/Partnerships team

32 Local Authorities and 7 cities (Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness, Perth and Stirling)

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A range of targets and initiatives contribute to the circular agenda in Scotland including:

• £ 70 000 000 Recycling Improvement Fund, which is administered by Zero Waste Scotland with the purpose of accelerating progress towards 2025 waste and recycling targets and Scotland’s net-zero carbon commitment, by strengthening and improving local authority recycling infrastructure. This will result in increased consistency of collection, improvements to the quality and quantity of material collected, and wider environmental and carbon benefits.
• Circular Textile Fund to support initiatives that could help Scotland tackle textile pollution and throw-away culture.
• An evidence-based approach to inform our work with sectors; using that evidence to engage stakeholders on the circular agenda; drive change and influence policy and legislative levers.
• Extensive, award-winning, consumer-facing campaigns to drive behaviour change, focusing on a range of issues including food waste, patterns of (over) consumption, reusable period products, and littering.
• The 'Revolve' certification to drive high standards in product reuse.

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Zero Waste Scotland participates in the following initiatives:

• OECD programme for cities and regions 
• Hubs4Circularity 
• CNCA reducing embodied carbon in Europe’s built environment 
• UK circular cities and regions network 
• Scottish Cities Alliance CE group 
• ACR+ 
• EREK 
• ScotlandEuropa 

• Net Zero Pubic Sector Building Standard
• Circular Economy (Scotland) Bill  
• Scotland’s circular economy routemap consultation 
• Municipality circular economy framework  
• Revolve Reuse Knowledge Hub
• Reports on embodied carbon (x3) available to download
• Mapping material demand in Scotland’s energy sector; Scotland’s ports: a future vision; Circular steel – available to download 
• CE in construction – resource library: https://www.zerowastescotland.org.uk/resources/construction-resource-library 
• Scotland’s material flow accounts: https://www.zerowastescotland.org.uk/resources/material-flow-accounts-mfa 
• Scotland’s circularity gap report: https://www.zerowastescotland.org.uk/resources/circularity-gap-report
• Forthcoming: 3x reports on construction materials reuse; municipality recycling site reuse guide; CE socio-economic benefits report; circular eco-systems 

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