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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.

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.

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:  .

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.

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.

Soil that is classified as hazardous is always chargeable at the standard rate of Scottish Landfill Tax. Therefore no hazardous soils should have been subject to the lower rate of Scottish Landfill Tax.

Statistics published by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) show that the volume of hazardous soil landfilled in Scotland has declined significantly since 2015, reducing from 27,209 tonnes to 3,921 tonnes in 2020.

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 .

Funding provided by the Scottish Government (Chief Scientist Office) for research falls into three broad areas of activity, i.e. research studies, capacity building and supporting infrastructure.

The specific amounts provided by condition are set out below although it should be noted that research studies (funded by non-commercial and third sector organisations) would also have benefited from the provision of service support costs and other generic resources which are not routinely recorded by condition.

Research Grants

The Chief Scientist Office supports response mode grant committees and a small catalytic grants scheme (2016-19). The committees which comprise independent experts as well as public representatives consider applications across broad research remits to address health and care challenges in Scotland. Applications are subject to independent expert peer-review with funding recommendations made by the committees. It should be noted that (1) funding rounds were significantly impacted in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic which saw a significant research response and (2) for 2021 to date only one of the two funding rounds has been completed.

We do not hold the requested information, however, information on the number of Lateral Flow Tests used and reported in Scotland is published weekly by Public Health Scotland .

Local authorities are responsible for the provision of local waste services and are, therefore, best placed to comment on their readiness to comply with the ban on sending biodegradable municipal waste to landfill in 2025.

However, we understand that 18 local authorities have contracts in place for 2025 that comply with the landfill ban, these are: Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire, Angus, City of Edinburgh, City of Glasgow, Dundee City, East Dunbartonshire, East Lothian, East Renfrewshire, Fife, Midlothian, Moray, North Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, Orkney, Renfrewshire, Shetland, and South Lanarkshire.

We are providing centrally supported procurement to help other local authorities secure contracts in preparation for the forthcoming ban. As part of this support, Zero Waste Scotland is working with local authorities to provide technical, legal and procurement advice on their contracts.