Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-37766

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 May 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 4 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made on implementing digital waste tracking, and whether any elements of system design and inputs have been shared with local authorities.

Question reference: S6W-37769

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 May 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 4 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a list of treatment facilities that are capable of processing waste upholstered domestic seating, broken down by capacity.

Question reference: S6W-37773

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 May 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 4 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to help any small and medium-sized enterprises that are impacted by its waste policies to identify viable markets and outlets for residual waste.

Question reference: S6W-37665

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 May 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 3 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-36185 by Mairi Gougeon on 11 April 2025, how many boats have been allocated a quota for West of Scotland cod; and what specific selective fishing (a) gear and (b) methods that are associated with a lower environmental impact have been incentivised by the application method.

Question reference: S6W-37516

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 16 May 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 30 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Goldman Sachs report, Carbonimics: Tariffs, deglobalization and the cost of decarbonization, which reportedly estimates that the cost of certain decarbonisation measures could rise as a result of global trade tariffs, and whether it will assess any potential impact on Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-36825

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 8 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of any impact on incineration gate fees of the extended producer responsibility for household packaging waste.

Question reference: S6W-36823

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 8 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has considered directing SEPA to refuse new permits for incineration facilities, in light of the extended producer responsibility for household packaging waste.

The Independent Review on the Role of Incineration in Scotland’s Waste Hierarchy (2022) recommended that no further planning permission for incineration facilities, beyond what was already in place, should be granted. This was reflected in National Planning Framework 4, which came into force on 13 February 2023 and is clear that development proposals for energy from waste facilities will not be supported except under very limited circumstances.

The key policy levers on this matter exist within the planning system. We will continue to work with SEPA, planners and the wider sector to ensure appropriate management of incineration capacity issues.

Extender Producer Responsibility for packaging (pEPR) applies the polluter pays principle, ensuring that packaging producers pay for the disposal costs of their packaging when it becomes waste. It incentivises businesses to reduce excess packaging, to design and use packaging that is easily recyclable, and encourage use of reusable and refillable packaging. pEPR funding will go to local authorities to support effective and efficient collection systems for household packaging waste.

Scotland’s whole-system approach to residual waste treatment is set out in the final Circular Economy and Waste Route Map. It includes measures making incineration a less attractive waste treatment method, such as the proposed Emission Trading Scheme (ETS) expansion to include incineration. The Route Map also includes measures that limit the production of plastic upstream and increase its removal from the waste stream prior to incineration, including pEPR.

Question reference: S6W-36824

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 8 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to reduce the amount of furniture, textiles and mattresses going to incineration or landfill.

The Scottish Government recognises the critical challenges and opportunities in transitioning towards a circular economy within the textiles and mattress sectors.

As set out in the Circular Economy and Waste Route Map to 2030, we are considering textiles and mattresses as priority products and have committed to publishing a Product Stewardship plan by 2026. We will continue to engage with stakeholders across these sectors to develop policies and actions that will tackle the environmental impact of priority products throughout their lifespan, including disposal options.

Furthermore, from 31 December this year, we will end the practice of landfilling biodegradable municipal waste (BMW) in Scotland from 31 December 2025.

We are presently running a Call for Evidence (CfE) on the potential extension of the BMW ban. This CfE seeks to support consideration of extending the landfill ban to include non-municipal biodegradable wastes by:

filling information gaps on the types of waste that could fall under an extended ban, as well as their characteristics and environmental impacts;
filling information gaps on the feasibility of alternative (non-landfill) treatment options for wastes that could fall under an extended ban;
supporting consideration of any barriers to diverting wastes from landfill;
To understand if there are wastes for which landfill remains the best option and;
considering other policies, their timings and interactions with an extended ban that could support the diversion of waste from landfill.

The CfE is being run as part of a wider consultation on potential changes to waste management services in Scotland which also includes a consultation on whether textile collections should be a mandatory requirement for local authorities in Scotland.

The consultation launched on 25 March 2025 and will close on 17 June 2025. You can access and respond to this consultation here: Changes to waste management services - Scottish Government consultations - Citizen Space.

Question reference: S6W-36723

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 6 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it or its agencies are actively pursuing a place for a UK reprocessing facility for electric vehicle batteries in Scotland, and what discussions it has had with any vehicle manufacturers on this issue.

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.

Question reference: S6W-37096

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 6 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to assess the potential cost impact of any new trade and tariff agreements entered into by the UK Government on decarbonisation efforts in Scotland that are based on using lowest-cost global suppliers.

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.

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