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I refer the member to Scottish Government’s publication on 28 February 2023 of the timeline and process for securing an Internal Market Act exclusion for the Deposit Return Scheme: https://www.gov.scot/binaries/content/documents/govscot/publications/correspondence/2023/02/internal-market-act-correspondence/documents/timeline-and-process-for-securing-an-internal-market-act-exclusion-for-drs/timeline-and-process-for-securing-an-internal-market-act-exclusion-for-drs/govscot%3Adocument/DRS%2BTimeline%2Band%2BProcess.pdf

This is clear that Scottish Government sought an exclusion from the Internal Market Act for Scotland’s DRS under the Resources and Waste common framework since July 2021.

When the UK Government unilaterally decided in March 2022 to agree only a narrow exclusion for single-use plastics under the Common Framework, Scottish and Welsh Ministers made clear their concerns on impacts on other policy developments. I refer the member to the published communiqué from the 21 March 2022 meeting of the Inter-Ministerial Group for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs https://www.gov.scot/publications/inter-ministerial-group-for-environment-food-and-rural-affairs-21-march-2022/ .

The Scottish Government has worked closely with Circularity Scotland at each stage of implementing DRS, including following the UK Government’s last minute intervention which has caused a delay to the scheme. Throughout the process, CSL has been a trusted partner with a demonstrated expertise and knowledge in its field and we believe the business sector sees the merits in working to maintain the progress they have made and to be able to use this as a springboard for the future form of DRS.

I refer the member to my statement of 7 June 2023 which has been published on the Scottish Parliament website. The process for considering an exclusion for Scotland’s DRS from the Internal Market Act led to the unilateral UK Government decision on 26 May not to agree a full exclusion by removing glass and imposing uncertain conditions on interoperability. This decision left the Scottish Government with no other option than to delay launch until October 2025 at the earliest, according to UK Government aspirations for their scheme. We regularly publish information and will consider any updated publication in light of these further substantive developments. UK Government has not challenged the accuracy of our published timeline.

Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme has been based on successful schemes across Europe. The Minister has been thoroughly briefed by Zero Waste Scotland on relevant research findings throughout the policy’s development.

As stated in question S6W-18000 on 31 May 2023 research was undertaken by Zero Waste Scotland, who designed the scheme, and met with a range of international scheme administrators and operators, many of whom had schemes that include glass, such as Estonia, Lithuania, Germany, Iceland, Denmark and Finland.

This research and briefing has meant that the minister has been fully appraised of the main characteristics of schemes across Europe and has not therefore personally travelled to the countries listed.

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

The Scottish Government has undertaken extensive analysis of the impact of Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme on recycling rates of both glass and plastic.

Scotland’s DRS will target a recycling rate of 90% of scheme articles by the third year of DRS being operational for both plastic and glass. Current recycling rates are around 50% for PET plastic and 63% for glass.

We expect to collect an extra 14,500 tonnes per year of plastic resulting in a CO2eq saving of 31,000 tonnes of carbon when the scheme launches. The UK Government’s intervention through the Internal Market Act Exclusion will delay these benefits by at least 19 months.

The details requested of ScotRail’s fleet of trains are commercially sensitive, however information concerning the fleets can be requested via:-

Information Requests | ScotRail

The member may wish to note that the fleet end dates are contained within the ScotRail Grant Agreement (page 19) available via:-

ScotRail+Grant+Agreement+-+24+June+2022_Published.pdf (squarespace.com)

Planning for the summit is underway. It will focus on practical support at classroom, school and local level to make a difference on this issue and will hear from young people, parents and carers, schools, local authorities and unions to discuss how to tackle the problem. Details will be set out in due course.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-18042 on 30 May 2023. 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.

Creative Scotland does not manage any buildings fitted with reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete.

All correspondence received by the Committee is published on the Parliament’s website and is therefore publicly available. Gateway reviews are routine components of the Scottish Government’s approach to project management, providing a snapshot of implementation progress. As I set out in my letter of 9 June to the Committee, given the decision by the current UK Government to exclude glass and to set out interoperability conditions, the pathway on which we are now embarked is very different from the context in which the Gateway Review was carried out, and, very different from that in which we sought to frame our response to the Review. Given the very clear call from all stakeholders for certainty, it is important to make sure that our response to the Review best reflects the position we are now in. I will ensure this is provided to Committee before Parliamentary recess.