The Scottish Government has reviewed its records and found no instances of peat having been purchased by the Scottish Government in the last five years. The Scottish Government is unable to answer on behalf of other public sector organisations. However, the Public Contracts Scotland website (at w ww.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk ) provides the means to search the public record of contracts awarded by all Scottish public sector organisations.

A study was undertaken in 2016 by Zero Waste Scotland to identify and prioritise categories of public sector procurement in terms of circular economy opportunities for reuse, repair and remanufacture which identified 13 products and services: https://www.zerowastescotland.org.uk/sites/default/files/Procuring%20for%20Repair%20-Re-use%20Reman%20Guide%20June%202016%20v3.pdf .

The Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 and the associated statutory guidance on the sustainable procurement duty sets out the Scottish Government’s framework for business-friendly, socially and environmentally responsible procurement. Specifically, the sustainable procurement duty requires public bodies to consider and act on opportunities to promote environmental well-being in the course of procurement activity.

The sustainable procurement duty is underpinned by sustainable procurement tools and both statutory and non-statutory guidance. These are updated on an ongoing basis in response to policy developments and emerging good practice and so it is not possible to identify all the changes that have been made since 2016. The guidance and tools are available online: www.sustainableprocurementtools.scot

The Scottish Institute for Manufacturing (SIR) does not regularly lobby bodies or organisations. The key purpose of the SIR is to play a pivotal role in transitioning to a circular economy within the remanufacturing sector by stimulating and funding innovation, supporting companies to exploit opportunities, and by growing capabilities, capacity and profitability within remanufacturing in Scotland.

The Scottish Institute for Remanufacturing (SIR) officially launched on 21 January 2015. Since 2015, SIR has funded 40 collaborative projects between industry and higher education institutions, at a value of over £800,000 with several projects still in progress. Currently 20 of these are available in case-study format on the SIR website at: https://www.scot-reman.ac.uk/category/case-study/ . Other case studies will be published as projects are completed.

The Scottish Government through Zero Waste Scotland has supported the piloting of three re-use hubs (Blythswood Dingwall in 2015, The Edinburgh Remakery in 2016, and Restyle Argyll in 2017). These hubs were a collaborative approach to re-use and all are still in operation. All three have also received support through the Revolve certification programme including training, retail and standards support.

Information on material capture rates for reuse is not held centrally. However, for example, The Edinburgh Remakery reported reuse figures of 17 tonnes of household furniture and 8 tonnes of IT equipment in 2018-19.

Scottish Government officials currently take part in monthly meetings with officials from the UK, Northern Ireland and Wales governments to discuss producer responsibility. Scottish Ministers have also met twice with their counterparts in the other Governments to discuss deposit return schemes, a form of producer responsibility, since 2016.

The information requested is not centrally held by Scottish Government. NHS boards may hold limited information within their Medical Equipment Management Databases. Decommissioning of medical devices and equipment is carried out in line with guidance given in the Section - Decommissioning, Recycling and Disposal of the Guidance on Management of Medical Devices and Equipment in Scotland’s Health and Social Care Services (National Services Scotland 2020) [ http://www.hfs.scot.nhs.uk/publications-/guidance-publications/?show=50&set=1 ] paras 6.128 to 6.147. This includes considering the ethical and sustainable donation of surplus clinically useful medical devices and equipment, as part of the NHS Scotland Global Citizenship Programme or alternatively ethical disposal in line with Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations.

This information is not held centrally. Zero Waste Scotland has been working with the Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre, Scottish Enterprise and wider stakeholders to map and understand the resources and potential feedstocks for biorefining in Scotland, this work has focussed on waste and by-product materials.

The Biorefining Potential for Scotland report 2017 mapped resources which arise and which may be available in terms of quantities, location and origin which has allowed businesses to access sample materials for small scale trials ( https://www.zerowastescotland.org.uk/sites/default/files/Biorefining%
20Potential%20for%20Scotland%20Final%20report.pdf ). Zero Waste Scotland are supporting a number of companies to progress to larger scale and demonstration facilities.

The Biorefinery Roadmap for Scotland – Building a Sustainable Future sets out Scottish Enterprise’s approach to the sector: https://www.sdi.co.uk/media/2092/biorefinery-roadmap-for-scotland-building-a-sustainable-future.pdf .

Homeworking from the onset of the pandemic has been and continues to be part of our wider public health response. By working from home, workers and employers are playing a vital role in helping suppress the virus, and in ensuring that our transport network remains safe.

We know that the vast majority of employers are complying with current homeworking guidance on a voluntary basis and we will continue to monitor this. As we have seen a worrying rise in the rate of transmission over the past few weeks we are considering options for placing a legal duty on employers to allow homeworking where it is possible. The introduction of any such duty would be on the basis of public health advice.

We must continue to limit the opportunity for the virus to spread and one of those measures is the continuation of homeworking.

Since 2016, a range of multi-media learning resources have been created by Zero Waste Scotland (ZWS) working with over 20 partners. These circular economy education resources and packs have been downloaded over 10,000 times.

ZWS has also trained teachers to champion the circular economy in schools. For example, in the last 3 years 38 teachers have completed the Food Nation General Teaching Council accredited programme.

Through work with Education Scotland ZWS is currently working with over 25 Raising Aspirations in Science Education (RAiSE)/science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) officers and 6 teachers from Angus schools to develop and share resources in schools nationally to champion circular economy education.