Scotland’s new circular economy bill

Right to repair: policy & activism
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There’s a new circular economy bill been passed in Scotland last month.

Regarding repair and reuse:

The bill empowers the Scottish Ministers to set local authority targets relating to developing a circular economy. These targets can cover areas such as reducing carbon emissions associated with material consumption, increasing re-use, refurbishment, repair, and recycling, and reducing waste.

Friends of the Earth Scotland have been campaigning to strengthen the bill, and seem happy:

The earliest version of the bill had no mention of reuse, repair or even the waste hierarchy – essential aspects of a circular economy! […] Now, Scotland’s circular economy law includes some of the main things that the we have campaigned for since the start […]

They had previously done an e-waste dump outside the Scottish Parliament to push for amendments to the bill.

Any thoughts on the bill?

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Undoubtedly a positive step forward in the right direction, but I’d agree with Greenpeace’s initial stance that there’s not enough about repair and reuse in the Bill. Lots in there to be happy about though - progress!

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I found this pretty positive too:

Since its introduction in June 2023, the Circular Economy (Scotland) Bill has undergone several significant modifications. One key addition is the requirement for ministers to consider the carbon footprint of materials consumed in Scotland when setting circular economy targets. This change reflects a more holistic approach to sustainability, considering not just waste but also the overall environmental impact of consumption.

(From the Resource.co article you linked to Neil)

I’m glad it takes into account the embodied emissions of products—i.e. the upstream impacts—as well as waste itself.

Given so much of it seems to be left up to ministers’ implementation, I guess we’ll need to wait and see what impacts it ends up having

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I often feel that upstream impacts will be the biggest game changer for the public to understand (counteracts the popular ‘what about China’ argument against individual action. So yes - hopeful that will have an impact.

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Hadn’t heard about this, but great to see developments like this in Scotland…definitely looks like steps in the right direction…here’s hoping that the UK can start moving more in this direction so those of us in England aren’t left behind

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