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Under Pollution Prevention and Control (Scotland) Regulations 2012, SEPA may only grant a permit in respect of a specified waste management activity if it is satisfied that planning permission is in force under the Town and Country Planning Act (Scotland) 1997 where the use of the site for the activity requires such permission. As such, SEPA are unable to issue permits if a facility does not have planning permission.

That is why, in line with Dr Church’s recommendation that no further planning permission is granted unless balanced by an equal or greater closure of capacity, (with limited exceptions for remote and rural areas, if fully justified) we will keep in place the Energy from Waste Notification Direction. This requires planning authorities to alert Scottish Ministers of new planning applications that involve incineration facilities and to notify Scottish Ministers if they are minded to grant planning permission to such facilities. This gives Ministers the opportunity to decide whether there are national interests at stake which would merit Ministers calling in an application for their own determination or to allow the local authority to issue the decision at local level.

Zero Waste Scotland is an independent, not-for-profit organisation. Its work in relation to staff wellbeing and working practices is an operational matter for the body. I have asked Zero Waste Scotland’s CEO to respond directly to you on this matter.

The Scottish Government is already taking measures to reduce the quantity of plastic in the residual waste stream. In terms of reducing the proportion of recyclable materials (which include plastics) in residual waste streams, we have implemented bans on problematic single use plastic items and confirmed over £20 million-worth of investments in local recycling infrastructure from our £70 million Recycling Improvement Fund, funding a range of improvements including boosting Scotland’s capacity to recycle problematic materials like plastic films. Additionally, we are implementing Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme and reforming extended producer responsibility for packaging.

To build on this progress, our recently published Waste Route Map consultation contains a number of proposals to reduce the proportion of recyclable materials in the waste stream, including reducing consumption of single use items, mainstreaming reuse and improving recycling from households and businesses, for example, by facilitating the co-design of high quality, high performing household recycling and reuse services. The consultation on the Route Map also sets out a proposal for the Scottish Government to facilitate the development of a sector-led plan by 2024 to restrict the carbon impacts of incineration and proposes to work with the waste and resources sector to accelerate the reduction of the carbon impacts of existing incineration plants. We will begin by focusing on measures to divert the highest carbon-emitting materials from incineration, such as plastics.

The following table provides a breakdown by local authority area of all applications to the Vacant and Derelict Land Investment Programme received in Round 1, for funding in financial year 2021-22.

Deposit Return Scheme applications for exemptions and voluntary return points have been open since 1 January 2021. The following table provides a breakdown of applications received so far.

The Programme for Government 2016 included a commitment to provide a Baby Box for every baby born and living in Scotland containing essential items designed to provide practical help for parents.

Registration opened on 15 June 2017, and delivery of boxes nationwide began on 15 August 2017 for all babies born and resident in Scotland.

Please find breakdown of Baby Boxes delivered annually since the scheme began:

2017 – 22,001 boxes

2018 – 48,524 boxes

2019 – 47,202 boxes

2020 – 42,636 boxes

2021 – 42,452 boxes

2022 – 17,973 boxes (please note that data is up to the 10th of June)

The role of Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) Applications Service Manager at Zero Waste Scotland will be funded from Zero Waste Scotland’s Scottish Government Grant Award. The position is a fixed term appointment until 25 August 2023.

Further to your query on this report in February 2021 (S5W-34878 on 10 February 2021), the intention of the analysis of residual waste treatment was to help inform and support future work. The output from this research was, therefore, never intended to be published. The cost of this project was £27,700.

Subsequent work in this area included the Scottish Government commissioned ‘Waste Markets Study’ in 2019; and Zero Waste Scotland produced a report on the Climate Change Impact of Burning Municipal Waste in Scotland.

The waste markets study is available here: Waste markets study: full report

Zero Waste Scotland’s report is available here: The climate change impact of burning municipal waste in Scotland | Zero Waste Scotland

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

Further to Scottish Government’s answer to your query on this report in February 2021 (S5W-34878 on 10 February 2021), Zero Waste Scotland have confirmed that £51,000 was spent on this work.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

Zero Waste Scotland, an independent not-for-profit company was established in 2014. I have asked Zero Waste Scotland’s Chief Executive to respond to Mr Golden directly with the information requested.