Maurice Golden

24 Apr 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it expects its study on the present and future markets for biodegradable waste to be published.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-22738 on 23 April 2019. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/…

24 Apr 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that the introduction of a deposit return system (DRS) will not result in a smaller range of materials accepted by kerbside collection services.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: We are committed to supporting local authority kerbside collection arrangements alongside our deposit return scheme. We have engaged extensively with stakeholders on the design of that scheme and will set out next steps with its implementation shortly. The c…

18 Mar 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has conducted of the (a) carbon and (b) economic impact of including glass in kerbside recycling schemes compared with only recycling via (i) deposit return scheme and (ii) other types of centres and points.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: An analysis has been conducted of the impact of including glass in the deposit return scheme compared to current recycling systems, which consist of a mixture of bring sites and kerbside collections. This work has been undertaken as part of extensive evidence…

12 Mar 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-14917 by Roseanna Cunningham on 8 March 2018, whether Scottish Natural Heritage has carried out further work regarding the impact on the red squirrel population of beavers destroying beech trees.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: Further to my response to question S5W-14917, I can confirm that Scottish Natural Heritage has not undertaken further work on the impact of beavers on beech trees and the red squirrel population.

12 Mar 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the extent of Ash dieback is in Scotland and what action it is taking to tackle this.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: Scotland’s Forestry Strategy places a high priority on understanding and mitigating the threats to Scotland’s forests and woodlands. The physical impacts of the disease on ash populations are generally not yet as advanced in Scotland as in England and Wales.…

5 Mar 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the publication of the analysis of the responses to the consultation on the deposit return scheme for single-use drinks containers , whether it plans to hold a further consultation on the final design and, if so, what the timeline will be.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The commitment to establish a Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) for drinks containers was set out through the 2017-18 Programme for Government and a public consultation seeking views on the design of that scheme concluded in September 2018. That consultation highli…

14 Feb 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on making pet theft a specific offence.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: While there is no specific criminal offence of “pet theft”, the existing common law offence of theft offers robust protection against those who engage in this type of offending behaviour, with the court retaining a wide judicial discretion in sentencing decis…

13 Feb 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to address dog theft.

Answer · Mairi Gougeon: Dog theft is dealt with under the common law of theft. In any given case, courts have discretion in sentencing decisions to reflect the individual facts and circumstances of each case, with maximum penalties available all the way up to life imprisonment. In 2…

6 Feb 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government (a) how many, (b) at what location and (c) on what dates stakeholder events were held in 2018 to support farmers meet the requirements of the ban on incineration of farm plastic waste.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: In 2018, SEPA officials attended 26 agriculture-focused events to provide advice on a range of issues related to environment and farming. While these events were not generally focused on farm plastics specifically, SEPA officials were available to provide sup…

5 Feb 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of it closing to new applicants across the rest of the UK from March 2019, whether it will retain the feed-in-tariffs scheme.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: The Scottish Government does not have the legal powers to retain the Feed-in Tariff Scheme (FITS) once it closes to new applicants on ?31 March 2019, as financial incentives and subsidies such as FITS are reserved to the UK Government. The Scottish Government…

5 Feb 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has carried out or plans of the feral cat population, and what action it is taking to manage it.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: There is no national monitoring or management scheme for feral cats in Scotland. In strict terms, the term “feral” applies only to formerly domesticated animals and their offspring living completely independently of humans rather than stray individuals or col…

5 Feb 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had regarding widening circular economic activity in the treatment of sewage sludge after the current treatment contracts end.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The Scottish Government is actively engaged with Scottish Water in relation to widening circular economic activity in the treatment of sewage sludge after the current treatment contracts end. Scottish Water’s bioresources strategy is to secure safe, sustaina…

5 Feb 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on reviewing the regulations regarding the co-digestion of sewage sludge.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: There are no plans at present to review the existing legislation relating to co-digestion of sewage sludge.  

5 Feb 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made on carrying out feasibility studies on the three main bioresource feedstock areas, and when the results will be published.

Answer · Ivan McKee: The recently updated National Plan for Industrial Biotechnology sets out 6 resource streams which were identified as holding the greatest potential to further develop Scotland’s bio-based economy, These are: Whisky co-products, Municipal solid wastes and food…

5 Feb 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much public funding has been invested in biorefining projects in each of the last three years.

Answer · Ivan McKee: The National Plan for Industrial Biotechnology, first published in 2013 and refreshed in 2019, notes the progress that has been made and the variety of funding streams that contribute to the success of the sector. This includes the Industrial Biotechnology …

5 Feb 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether mapping bioresource geographies and volumes would help inform future investment and industrial opportunities, and whether it will take steps to establish such a dataset.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: Zero Waste Scotland undertook a review of bioresource arisings (waste, by-product and agricultural residues) and their availability across Scotland. The findings are published in the Biorefining Potential for Scotland report 2017. This maps materials and thei…

5 Feb 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many biorefining development projects it has helped deliver in each of the last three years through partnerships with industry.

Answer · Ivan McKee: Realising the full economic potential of this sector requires collaboration, knowledge transfer and partnerships across the public and private sectors. The Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre was established with funding from Scottish Government (throu…

5 Feb 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to expanding waste data capture protocols to include resource inputs, waste arising and waste fate regarding both regulated sites and material exemptions.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: Scotland’s Circular Economy Strategy “Making Things Last”, published in February 2016, commits Scotland to moving towards a mandatory electronic waste tracking system. Since 2014 we have been working with DEFRA, the Environment Agency, SEPA, and the other Dev…

5 Feb 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what knowledge transfer partnerships have been established regarding industrial biorefining, and how many of these feed into live projects.

Answer · Ivan McKee: Realising the full economic potential of this sector requires collaboration, knowledge transfer and partnerships across the public and private sectors. The Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre was established with funding from Scottish Government (throu…

5 Feb 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made on increasing the level of forestry co-product harvesting, and what the resultant increase in bioresource feedstock has been.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: Forest Research undertakes research on the impacts of forestry co-product harvesting, such as brash removal and has published guidance to aid site selection for suitable operations. This guidance can be found at the following website: https://www.forestresea…

5 Feb 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much bio-waste it expects to be utilised in biorefining by 2021, and whether it will set a target for a minimum quantity of bio-waste arising to be used by industry.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The Biorefining Potential for Scotland report published in 2017 by Zero Waste Scotland highlights the scale of the opportunity for the Scottish biorefinery sector. There are at least 27 million tonnes of bioresources arising every year in Scotland which coul…

5 Feb 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the potential value of fats, oils and grease discarded into the sewer system as a bioresource, and of potential resource capture mechanisms for these.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: Scottish Water has conducted trials in conjunction with a biodiesel processor to assess the viability of recovering Fats, Oils and Grease (FOG) from the sewerage network. Due to the distributed nature of the sewerage network and the diffuse nature of FOG, rec…

13 Oct 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-18767 by Roseanna Cunningham on 20 September 2018, what consideration was given to the results of the 2012-13 absorbent hygiene product collection pilot to ensure that these products were recycled in Scotland, rather than incinerated or landfilled.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: Further to the answers given to questions S5W-18767, S5W-18046 and S5W-18047 both on 28 August 2018, I can confirm that the waste collected during the Absorbent Hygiene Product (AHP) collection pilot was recycled in England as there was no facility in Scotlan…

12 Sep 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-18046 by Roseanna Cunningham on 28 August 2018, how much funding was provided to the four councils that ran the 2012-13 absorbent hygiene product collection pilot, and what the cost of the pilot was.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The total cost of the 2012 - 2013 pilot for Absorbent Hygiene Products was £311,706, of which £172,929 was distributed to the four participating councils as follows: Perth & Kinross £104,734 Stirling £37,995 North Lanarkshire £6,508 Fife £23,692 TOTA…

11 Sep 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what metrics it uses to assess the (a) environmental and (b) economic impact of activities and projects funded through Community Resources Network Scotland.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: CRNS is a membership organisation with c. 125 members. Members contribute to the achievement of outcomes for:waste reductionrecyclingreuse (via reuse activities) which have the added benefits of supporting social enterprise to create and maintain jobs as wel…

11 Sep 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-17795 by Roseanna Cunningham on 14 August 2018, whether it will provide the information that was requested regarding the (a) lifetime identified carbon savings, (b) decreases in waste arisings and (c) total cost savings for the businesses supported.…

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: S5W-18715 Roseanna Cunningham : The key objective of the fund is to develop and expand innovative technologies, products and services and to deliver a circular economy in Scotland. Over the lifetime of the projects supported to date, carbon savings of 432,5…

11 Sep 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-17794 by Roseanna Cunningham on 14 August 2018, what the spend profile for the Circular Economy Investment Fund (CEIF) will be in 2018-19. 

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: Under the current pipeline of projects, contracted projects and applications in progress this year, Zero Waste Scotland is forecasting a spend of £4.58m.

11 Sep 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-17796 by Roseanna Cunningham on 14 August 2018, what impact the Circular Economy Investment Fund (CEIF) has had in attracting (a) private and (b) institutional investment, and how many jobs have been created under the contracts.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: To date the circular economy investment fund (CEIF) has attracted £5.4m of private investment into Scotland and a further £1 million of institutional investment. These investments are projected to support 218 jobs.

29 Aug 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government which data sources it has considered for use in supporting a system of ecosystem health indicators.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The Scottish Government is using a range of sources which are listed for each individual indicator on the Scottish Government’s Environment website: https://www.environment.gov.scot/our-environment/state-of-the-environment/ecosystem-health-indicators/

29 Aug 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it is making toward developing a set of ecosystem health indicators, and what target date has been set for its introduction.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: The full set of ecosystem health indicators were launched on 10 October 2017 at the Royal Society of Edinburgh’s ‘Scotland’s Biodiversity Conference’.