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That is right. It is obliged under statute to return that level of recycling. As far as the black spots for collections and such are concerned, CSL needs to put in place a comprehensive network of return points to allow it to hit the target, because, as an organisation, it can be penalised if it does not meet its statutory obligations.

As Liam Kerr knows, implementing that commitment to a 50 per cent shift and the conditionality around it is on-going work in agricultural reform. I believe that the cabinet secretary made an initial announcement on the direction of travel a couple of weeks ago to the national annual meeting of the NFUS. However, it is a matter of on-going consultation with stakeholders to make sure that we get it right.

The number 1 priority is to make sure that that 50 per cent is not only delivering for biodiversity but is practical, workable and accessible for farmers and land managers, so that they can get that money in a way that supports their business models.

Can you repeat your second point?

Okay.

All the work has been done in response to industry requests. One of the interesting things about the project is that the legislation, as passed by the Scottish Parliament, was relatively broad in order to allow the industry to come up with a solution that it wanted; the scheme is industry led.

There are two major parts: the producers who have to pay into the scheme and the retailers who have to implement the scheme, who will be selling bottles to customers and taking them back. You can imagine that there is a push-and-pull factor in that relationship: the producers want to pay as little as possible, and the retailers want to be paid as much as possible for the work that they do. Circularity Scotland is managing that internal negotiation and the tensions within the industry.

Specifically, the exemptions relate to the small businesses that saw the exemptions in the regulations and asked what that means for them. We have, with Zero Waste Scotland, put in place a process that is on the website and is now active. Handling fees and producer fees have also been addressed in the past few months. Circularity Scotland made calculations based on initial estimates of what fees might be, and the industry came back to say, “Please think again”, so it did.

The exemption process meant that Circularity Scotland could change its modelling about how many return points there would be and was able to adjust the figures: the producer fees have gone down and the return point handling fees have gone up. Circularity Scotland is a not-for-profit organisation, so it will not keep any of that money, which will go into reducing the cost of the scheme. The idea is that, as the scheme beds in and becomes more efficient and as we get past the day 1 costs and so on, the fees can be revisited in line with the efficiencies that will be built as the scheme goes forward.

Mercedes Villalba’s last point was about online sales, which are covered in the regulations. However, it was flagged up strongly to me and my colleagues that the online obligation as it was written in the regs was simply not deliverable. Businesses said that they could get on and deliver a more traditional scheme, such as other countries have, based on reverse vending machines and manual return points, but that the online take-back, which no other country implements to the extent that we had put into our regs, was simply not going to be possible within the timescale.

That is one area where I have listened to business and said, “Do you know what? You’re right. I can see that that will not be possible within the timescales.” As a result, we have committed to removing that obligation from the regulations. In other words, when the regulations come for amendment to Parliament, the obligation on online take-back will be removed, then phased in for larger retailers, starting from 2025.

The research that we have done has looked at similar schemes around the world. Because the deposit itself is fully refundable, it does not add to inflation; when you pay your 20p, you get your 20p back.

I do not recognise the member’s assertion about the cost being 40p. That is not a number that I recognise. Under the scheme, the cost is 20p, and people will get that 20p back.

With regard to consumer behaviour, we do not think that there will be extensive format switching from small units to large units in order to reduce any perceived mark-up in the deposit. As I have noted repeatedly, the deposit is fully refundable. Retailers are required to display information that tells people that the deposit is refundable.

There are many other deciding factors for consumers, including practicality, convenience, brand preference and the presentation of the product. Evidence suggests that, where product or format switching has occurred in other countries that have a DRS, it is rare that it can be attributed only to the DRS. Therefore, we think that there will be only a limited impact in that respect.

Are you referring to concerns of small retailers or concerns of small producers? One group will be in receipt of fees and the other will pay the fees.

I will give my view and then hand over to Euan, who is the expert on this.

The resources and waste common framework has worked well. For example, we used it last year to get the exclusion that we needed for the single-use plastics ban. Provided that the framework is used as intended, I think that it works well. The question on the table is whether UK ministers will break that agreement.

That is no problem. I will tackle both of Jackie Dunbar’s questions.

The Scottish biodiversity strategy ties in with other strategies. It is essential that biodiversity considerations are mainstreamed in all our policy development, and that is one of our key aims. Given the breadth of matters that the Government deals with, there is a wide range of strategies and plans to address issues in particular sectors. The biodiversity strategy provides a clear vision and set of outcomes that all of our policies must help to achieve. The environment strategy for Scotland presents a whole-of-Government approach to tackling the climate and nature crises by creating an overarching framework for Scotland as well as strategies and plans on the environment and climate change, and by strengthening the connections between environmental policies and policies across Government. It helps us to identify priorities and opportunities and to drive the transformative change that we need.

We know that healthy biodiversity underpins our prosperity, wellbeing and ability to reach net zero. I know that all the committee members are aware, because of the evidence that you have taken, that we need to mainstream this piece. Tackling biodiversity cannot be done in a silo; it needs to be done across all of society.

Specifically on wild salmon, they are an indicator species, so things that we do to protect wild salmon will also protect other species that have similar life cycles or share their natural environment, such as those that Jackie Dunbar mentioned.

As members will know, wild salmon are in decline. In response to the decline of those populations, in January 2022 we published Scotland’s wild salmon strategy, which is a collective vision for flourishing populations of wild Atlantic salmon. In that, we set a high level of ambition and a direction of travel. We followed up the strategy with an implementation plan, which was published last month, and which sets out more than 60 actions that we will take over the next five years to protect and restore salmon populations. The strategy and plan were developed in close collaboration with stakeholder groups, including representatives from Government, NGOs and agencies. We are clear that positive outcomes can be achieved only through a co-ordinated and collaborative approach.

I have been lucky enough to visit some of the nature restoration work that is being done along some of the rivers, such as removing weirs and, where the weirs cannot be removed, putting in passes to allow the salmon past, and of course those will apply to other species as well.

I want to mention another great river restoration project. One problem that some rivers in Scotland have is that they are too clean—there are no trees along the banks, there is nothing in the water, and they run too fast, too clear and too hot, because the sun shines on them all the time. This particular project takes fallen trees and embeds them in the riverbed. That not only slows the water but creates shaded spots and eddies where fish can spawn and invertebrates can breed. That is the kind of practical on-the-ground action on which the nature restoration fund is having an impact and that specifically targets those important species.

Yes, absolutely. Our land is such a mosaic that there is not one solution that would be suitable everywhere. Cairngorms Connect is a very successful project, but it is only one project. Of course, private land is owned for many uses, including farming, forestry and all the businesses that we have in Scotland, which is why we need to look at solutions across the piece.

We are looking at how agriculture subsidies can be reformed to support agriculture. We are looking at minor adjustments to grouse moor legislation to ensure that that land is managed well. We are looking at how we can improve public transport. We are looking at all the pieces across the board. There is no one-size-fits-all solution for managing land. It is about ensuring that each individual farmer, crofter and land manager has the tools available to them, so that they know how to apply for the right grants and support in order that they can manage their land in the way that is right for it.

Landowners know what they need and what to do, so I see our role as facilitating and signposting people by saying, for example, “Here’s the nature restoration fund. Here’s how you get the agricultural subsidies that will allow you to do what you need to do. Here’s how you apply for forestry grant schemes.” All those things together incentivise land use for biodiversity. They also mean that land managers have those choices, so they can look at their land and decide what is best for them and what will work for them.