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Public support for Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) is high.

Zero Waste Scotland’s consumer research indicates that 71% of the public support the introduction of DRS.

Kerbside collection remains important since it enables people to recycle non-scheme items. Additionally, DRS will help local authority waste management services to free up capacity to support wider collection services and improve recycling rates on other materials.

Furthermore, DRS will significantly increase the quantity and quality of glass recyclate, creating an aggregated and high-quality feedstock for reprocessing.

We do not believe an enhanced kerbside scheme could deliver the level or rate of improvement that we will see through DRS. Packaging recycling rates have stalled, including for glass, and the current producer responsibility system is not driving improvement.

DRS should deliver an 85% collection rate for glass by the second full year of operation at the latest.

The Scottish Government Chief Scientist Office run a range of Fellowship schemes for early career researchers to build capacity for health research in Scotland. These schemes are open to researchers in all fields including cardiovascular research. Applications are subject to peer review with funding recommendations made by independent panels.

Clinical Academic Training Fellowship Scheme to enable early career researchers to undertake a PhD.

Clinical Academic Fellowships – Chief Scientist Office (scot.nhs.uk)

NES/CSO Postdoctoral Clinical Lectureships to enable medics with a PhD to have 50% research time while completing training.

Joint NES/CSO Postdoctoral Clinical Lectureships – Chief Scientist Office (scot.nhs.uk)

Early Postdoctoral Fellowship providing 3 years of funding for early career researchers to develop their academic career.

Early Postdoctoral Fellowship – Chief Scientist Office (scot.nhs.uk)

Researchers at the British Heart Foundation's Glasgow Cardiovascular Research Centre are eligible for these awards.

The recommendations of the panel were received at the fourth meeting on 24 January 2022. These minutes and noted recommendations will be published by the end of March 2022.

As noted in the answer to S6W-06239, we do not hold detailed information centrally on those local approaches and so cannot provide the breakdown as requested. However, the latest information we have from councils indicates that almost 280,000 devices have been, or are in the process of being, rolled out to learners across Scotland.

This information is not held centrally.

As a private business, the remuneration of Circularity Scotland Ltd staff is not shared with the Scottish Government, nor is it subject to Ministerial approval.

The number of reverse vending machines (RVMs) was based on analysis of data that identified retail locations in Scotland, the store type and the sales area. This estimated that there would be approximately 3,021 automatic return points using RVMs and 14,386 manual return points.

The decision on whether to install a RVM will be for individual retailers to make.

The Final business and regulatory impact assessment (BRIA) of 2021 has a figure for fraud of £108 million, not £74.3 million. You can find details in Table 2 which can be downloaded here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/deposit-return-scheme-scotland-final-business-regulatory-impact-assessment/ .

As stated in the Final Business Regulatory Impact Assessment, it is anticipated that floor space implications associated with the installation of Reverse Vending Machines (RVM) are likely to be modest. Generally, it is expected that high-volume retailers will choose to introduce RVMs as they will be able to process returns with greater efficiency, while low-volume retailers will choose to operate manual collection and return, as the costs and space requirements of an RVM may be prohibitive.

Whichever method is adopted, retailers will be able to charge a handling fee from the scheme administrator to fully compensate them for the costs involved in the collection, checking and storage of used containers.

The model used to inform that BRIA deals with local authorities as a collective group and it is therefore not possible to provide detailed calculations for individual local authority costs and benefits in relation to recycling. You can view the full report here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/deposit-return-scheme-scotland-final-business-regulatory-impact-assessment/ .

Landfill tax is considered a ‘transfer payment’ under HM Treasury guidance and is therefore not included in BRIA calculations.