Maurice Golden

17 May 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-08232 by Lorna Slater on 11 May 2022, whether it will provide a breakdown of the use of the reusable nappy vouchers that shows how (a) many have been used, (b) much the scheme has cost and (c) many families have switched permanently to reusable napp…

Answer · Clare Haughey: The following table details the number of reusable nappies provided each year through the Baby Box reusable nappy voucher scheme and the cost. Families who take up the nappy offer are offered a discounted package should they wish to continue with reusable na…

17 May 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-08230 by Lorna Slater on 11 May 2022, whether it will provide a further list of any reports commissioned that were never made, or have ceased to be made, publicly available by Zero Waste Scotland.

Answer · Lorna Slater: ZWS commissions research and policy reports for a variety of reasons. In some cases ZWS commissions reports which are intentionally aimed at wider public audiences, and in other cases, ZWS commissions reports to inform the development of programmes and interv…

16 May 2022 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister how the Scottish Government is supporting households, communities and businesses to take part in the Big Plastic Count.

11 May 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of which countries have received Scottish waste exports, and how much each received, in each of the last three years.

Answer · Lorna Slater: That information is not held centrally. This data can be obtained from SEPA. We are committed to ensuring Scotland takes more responsibility for its own waste, maximising its value and reducing the environmental and carbon impact. A large majority of Scotlan…

11 May 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the earliest year is for which it is technically possible to separate incineration plant emissions data from wider energy sector emissions data.

Answer · Lorna Slater: Official Statistics on Scottish greenhouse gas emissions are published annually ( Scottish Greenhouse Gas statistics: 1990-2019 ) and are used to monitor progress to Scotland’s statutory emissions reduction targets. These statistics are based on a disaggreg…

11 May 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to strengthen existing requirements for waste pre-treatment to extract as much recyclable material as possible.

Answer · Lorna Slater: The Pollution, Prevention and Control (Scotland) Regulations 2012) (the “PPC regulations”) require that permits for the incineration or co-incineration of municipal waste contain such conditions as SEPA considers necessary to ensure, where practicable, that n…

11 May 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the recommendations of the Independent Review of the Role of Incineration in the Waste Hierarchy in Scotland.

Answer · Lorna Slater: We are carefully considering the recommendations of the Independent Review of the Role of Incineration in Scotland’s Waste Hierarchy. We will set out our initial response to the recommendations in June 2022.

11 May 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it operates a list of countries that it will not allow to receive Scottish waste exports, and, if so, what the reason is for applying the restriction in each case.

Answer · Lorna Slater: The export of waste is a reserved matter. The Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes is the international Convention that governs the movement of hazardous waste, to which the UK is a party. The Convention, as implement…

8 May 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the risk of multiple people per household applying for a fireworks licence following the introduction of the provisions in the Fireworks and Pyrotechnic Articles (Scotland) Bill.

Answer · Ash Regan: All of the measures within the Bill, including the licensing system, have been developed following a significant programme of consultation, engagement and evidence gathering. This includes the work of the independent advisory Firework Review Group, who consid…

8 May 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it has taken in the Fireworks and Pyrotechnic Articles (Scotland) Bill to prevent the third-party sale of fireworks to non-licence-holders.

Answer · Ash Regan: The potential for unintended consequences, including a possible increase in illicit firework sales, has been carefully considered throughout development of the Bill. In terms of how measures within the Bill have been developed to mitigate against illicit sal…

4 May 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government further to the answer to question S5W-34970 by Roseanna Cunningham on 4 February 2021, whether it can provide a breakdown of any funding awards it has made since that answer to circular economy textiles projects. 

Answer · Lorna Slater: Further to the response provided to S5W-34970, since February 2021 Zero Waste Scotland has awarded tailored consultancy support to two SMEs through the Circular Economy Business Support Service in order to help develop circular textiles propositions. Each sup…

3 May 2022 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the education secretary has had with the circular economy minister regarding progress to enhance education and skills for a circular economy.

3 May 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much was distributed through the Recycling Improvement Fund in the financial year 2021-22.

Answer · Lorna Slater: To date, over £20.3 million has been awarded to 13 local authorities to increase the quantity and quality of recycling in Scotland, marking the beginning of one of the biggest investments in recycling in Scotland in a generation. Of these awards, £5,267,640 …

27 Apr 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the economics of electric arc furnaces in Scotland.

Answer · Ivan McKee: As noted in the reply to question S6W-08344, we commissioned independent research into the steel sector in Scotland: this included consideration of the scope for electric arc furnaces in Scotland. We would encourage any company interested in developing an ele…

27 Apr 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when the next annual update of the Material Flow Accounts published by Zero Waste Scotland in May 2021 will be published.

Answer · Lorna Slater: Zero Waste Scotland advises us that they aim to publish the next update of the Material Flow Accounts by the end of September 2022.      

27 Apr 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-05492 by Lorna Slater on 20 January 2022, what the remaining parts of the Zero Waste Scotland research to analyse the steel market in Scotland are, and when those reports will be available.

Answer · Lorna Slater: Zero Waste Scotland advises us that the steel research project will include four reports. These are:An update to the published carbon assessment comparing the impacts of exporting steel with recycling steel using an Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) located in Scotl…

27 Apr 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the economics of processing Scotland’s scrap steel domestically.

Answer · Ivan McKee: The Scottish Government commissioned independent research into the state of the steel sector in Scotland from the University of Warwick. This report is available to read online and can be found here .

27 Apr 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when the findings of the Zero Waste Scotland project on "Creating a Vision for Circular Ports in Scotland", as referred to in the Contract Notice that was published on 2 November 2021, will be made available.

Answer · Lorna Slater: Zero Waste Scotland informs us that they are still in the process of finalising the report and as such do not yet have a confirmed publication date for this work.  

26 Apr 2022 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the culture minister has had with the minister for zero carbon buildings regarding work to install energy efficiency measures in cultural and heritage buildings.

24 Apr 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what research it has (a) undertaken and (b) considered to utilise vermiculture processes to convert organic waste to a sustainable circular alternative to chemical fertiliser.

Answer · Lorna Slater: We have not funded research on vermiculture in the current Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture Strategic Research Programme (2022-7), nor in its previous programme, (2015-22). In the previous programme however Scottish Government did fund research…

24 Apr 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what work it is undertaking to increase the recycling rate for absorbent hygiene products.

Answer · Lorna Slater: In line with the waste hierarchy, the Scottish Government’s focus is on measures to promote reusable alternatives. For example, in 2019, Zero Waste Scotland launched its “Trial Period” behaviour change campaign to raise awareness of the benefits and encourage…

24 Apr 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a list of any reports procured by Zero Waste Scotland since 2011 that are not published on the Zero Waste Scotland website.

Answer · Lorna Slater: The information in this response has been provided by Zero Waste Scotland (ZWS). The reports listed in the following table are currently being assessed to determine if further quality assurance/peer review is required to ensure data remains valid and useful.…

19 Apr 2022 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many incidents of dog theft there have been in the last five years.

5 Apr 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will outline the procedure required to formally close a landfill site, including any period of monitoring required.

Answer · Mairi McAllan: The status of a landfill site can be described as either ‘Operational’, ‘Closure’, ‘Definite Closure’ or ‘Aftercare’. Landfill sites are not considered formally closed until they reach ‘Definite Closure’ status. Sites in the Closure phase are those which are…

5 Apr 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of landfill sites by (a) area covered and (b) active status.

Answer · Mairi McAllan: The following table provides a full breakdown of landfill sites with a pollution prevention and control (PPC) permit with their locations and current operational status. It is not possible to specify the area covered by each landfill given it is a commercial…

5 Apr 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of landfill site locations that closed in each of the last five years, and, in each case, how long the site underwent monitoring prior to closure.

Answer · Mairi McAllan: The following table provides a breakdown of all landfill sites with a pollution, prevention and control (PPC) permit that are currently in the ‘closure’ phase, in that they are not receiving waste for disposal . Following the December 2020 cyber-attack on SE…

30 Mar 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether every local authority it provided funding to for implementing Frank's Law in 2019 was advised by its officials that such funding was to be ring-fenced for the specific purpose of providing people aged under 65 with free personal care where there was an assessed need.

Answer · Kevin Stewart: The 2019-20 Scottish Budget included a £29.5 million provision for implementing the Scottish Government’s commitment to extend free personal care to all those under 65 who need it. This funding was baselined into the Local Government Settlement and, while it …

30 Mar 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the potential impact of including glass in its Deposit Return Scheme, in light of other parts of the UK not including it.

Answer · Lorna Slater: Including glass in our Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) will bring significant environmental and economic benefits. The inclusion of glass will save over 1.2 megatonnes CO 2 equivalent over 25 years. DRS will also reduce the amount of harmful glass litter in our e…

30 Mar 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it is giving to excluding glass containers from its Deposit Return Scheme, in light of the reported announcement that glass will not be included in the schemes in England and Northern Ireland.

Answer · Lorna Slater: The Scottish Government remains fully committed to the inclusion of glass containers in our ambitious Deposit Return Scheme in view of the significant environmental and economic benefits that that will bring.

24 Mar 2022 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether its 2024 timescale for introducing a Natural Environment Bill provides sufficient prominence to the declared nature emergency, and whether it will bring this timescale forward.

Answer · Lorna Slater: We recognise the need for urgent action to address our twin nature and climate crises. That is why we are not waiting until the introduction of the Natural Environment Bill to take action. We have already committed to invest £65 in our Nature Restoration Fund…