Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-05355

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 14 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what research it is (a) undertaking and (b) aware of on utilising household waste and crop waste to manufacture bacterial cellulose for use in the production of yarns and other textile applications.

Question reference: S6O-00643

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 January 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what staffing resources it has allocated to the preparation work for a new independence referendum.

Question reference: S6W-05187

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 12 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many times since 1 September 2021 (a) Ministers, (b) Scottish Government officials, (c) Zero Waste Scotland and (d) SEPA have met with representatives of the incineration industry.

Representatives from the waste industry may represent multiple areas of the waste sector. For example, companies may operate both incineration and recycling facilities, and trade bodies represent companies which operate across the waste sector.

The information below, therefore, represents the number of meetings with representatives from the waste industry where the intention was to discuss incineration, or topics related to incineration (e.g. carbon capture and storage from energy from waste facilities) in at least part of the meeting.

Since 1 September 2021, (a) Ministers have met once and (b) Scottish Government officials have met twice with representatives from the waste industry to discuss incineration in at least part of the meeting.

Data on the number of times that (c) Zero Waste Scotland and (d) SEPA have met with representatives of the waste industry are not held centrally.

Question reference: S6W-05229

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 11 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government on what date the Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity decided to postpone the Deposit Return Scheme.

Question reference: S6W-05059

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 6 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether a review has been carried out on the mechanism used to apply tax rates to waste soils and what role (a) Revenue Scotland and (b) SEPA played in any review process.

As set out in the Scottish Landfill Tax (Qualifying Materials) Order 2016, sub-soils qualify at the lower rate of Scottish Landfill Tax. However, top-soil, soil containing hazardous materials or soil from contaminated land will always be chargeable at the standard rate of Scottish Landfill Tax. The Qualifying Materials Order was introduced following consultation with industry and other stakeholders.

The Scottish Landfill Tax legislation approved by the Scottish Parliament gives Revenue Scotland the authority to set out a direction that material can be regarded as qualifying material if it qualifies as such but for the presence of a small amount of non-qualifying materials. Revenue Scotland’s current guidance in this area was developed following detailed consideration and a specific consultation, involving SEPA, was held on the treatment of soils.

Question reference: S6W-05230

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 6 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether the Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity was aware of the findings of the Deposit Return Scheme (a) Gateway Review and (b) Assurance Plan, which called for the scheme to be delayed beyond July 2022, before her statement to Parliament on 17 November 2021.

The Gateway Review into Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) took place on 14-16 June 2021 and the follow-up Assurance of Action Plan took place on 21-23 September 2021. Subsequently, I carried out extensive engagement with industry and other stakeholders, in particular Circularity Scotland Ltd, to agree a final timescale and clear milestones for delivery. These were announced to the Scottish Parliament on 14 December 2021.

Question reference: S6W-05231

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 5 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether the Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity was aware that Circularity Scotland reportedly issued procurement documentation for a deposit return system with a launch date of summer 2023, prior to her statement to the Parliament on 14 December 2021.

In line with the principle of producer responsibility, Circularity Scotland Ltd (CSL) is a private company, established by industry to lead on delivery of Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) as scheme administrator. As an independent, industry-led organisation, CSL’s procurement decisions are not a matter for the Scottish Ministers.

Producers of in-scope drinks are responsible for having their scheme packaging collected from return points free of charge from the full implementation date for DRS, either directly or through a scheme administrator. Industry is therefore liable for delivery of DRS by the full implementation date whether or not a scheme administrator is in place by that date. Until and unless amended by the Deposit and Return Scheme for Scotland Amendment Regulations 2022, that date is set in regulations as 1 July 2022.

Question reference: S6W-05333

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 5 January 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) small and (b) large retailers it estimates have a 24-month preparedness time, as indicated in the Deposit Return Scheme Gateway Review.

The Gateway Reviewers for Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme interviewed representatives of both small and large retailers. Their report, which was published on 14 December 2021, gives a preparedness estimate of 12-24 months for individual stakeholders including retailers. This informed their judgement that a full implementation date of July-September 2023 was possible albeit with significant risk.

Retailer preparedness cannot be viewed in isolation but depends on key design decisions being taken by Circularity Scotland Ltd (CSL) as scheme administrator. To supplement the Gateway Review we carried out direct engagement with a range of stakeholders, including retailers and CSL, to develop a delivery timetable that is both ambitious and deliverable in line with the findings of the Gateway Review.

A list of stakeholders consulted during this process is provided on p13 of the Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment published on 22 December 2021: https://www.gov.scot/isbn/9781802018875 .

Question reference: S6W-05060

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 23 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact that landfill tax has had on reducing the quantity of waste soil that has gone to landfill since 2015.

No specific assessment has been undertaken to assess the impact of Scottish Landfill Tax on the quantity of waste soil going to landfill.

Statistics published by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) show that the overall amount of waste going to landfill has reduced from around 4.2 million tonnes in 2015 to around 2.6 million tonnes in 2020. The amount of soil going to landfill has also reduced over the same period, from around 1.24 million tonnes to around 0.83 million tonnes. Statistics for 2020 will however have been affected by the impact of Covid-19 restrictions.

The SEPA waste statistics are available at www.sepa.org.uk/environment/waste/waste-data/waste-data-reporting/ .

Question reference: S6W-05200

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 20 December 2021
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 23 December 2021

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-04807 by Lorna Slater on 14 December 2021, whether, as part of its work on a route map, it will consider moving from weight-based to carbon-based recycling targets for local authorities.

As set out in our response to S6W-04807, we are working with industry, local government and environmental groups to develop the route map to deliver our waste and recycling targets for 2025. This work is critical in determining how the waste and resources sector will contribute towards lower carbon emissions in the period to 2030 and beyond, including considering the use of carbon-based recycling targets for local authorities.

It would be wrong of me to pre-empt that process, including formal consultation on findings and proposals, planned for the first half of 2022.

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