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The Scottish Government has made no such estimate.

However, I understand the new plastic recycling plant based in Glenrothes is expected to recycle up to 15,000 tonnes per annum of low-grade post-consumer plastic. This follows an award to Fife Council of £470,000 from the Scottish Government’s Recycling Improvement Fund. Further information is available here: Yes Recycling Fife and Ecosheet , and the latest data on the amount of plastic waste generated and recycled is available at https://www.sepa.org.uk/environment/waste/waste-data/waste-data-reporting/waste-data-for-scotland/ .

To date, over £20.3 million of the Recycling Improvement Fund has been awarded to 13 local authorities. This funding has been profiled over several years, based on individual project requirements. In 2021-22 local authorities required £5,267,640 of available funding, due to the lead in time needed to establish projects and some delays due to procurement and supply chain issues. The remainder is being phased over subsequent years of the fund, based on the local projects’ spend profiles.

As outlined in the recent Outcome of the Targeted Review of the Capital Spending Review, funding that has not been allocated to date will be available to invest in remaining years of the Fund. The Scottish Government remains committed to investing £70 million through the Recycling Improvement Fund to improve the quantity and quality of recycling in Scotland.

ZWS commissions research and policy reports for a variety of reasons. In some cases ZWS commissions reports which are intentionally aimed at wider public audiences, and in other cases, ZWS commissions reports to inform the development of programmes and interventions, or of Scottish Government policy.

In addition to the reports listed in my answer to S6W-08230, ZWS may have commissioned additional work that was not intended for publication. This includes commercially sensitive work that was undertaken specifically for individual organisations, work solely undertaken in-house by Zero Waste Scotland staff, and data generated to inform input to further published reports or to assist Zero Waste Scotland’s Strategic development.

The following table details the number of reusable nappies provided each year through the Baby Box reusable nappy voucher scheme and the cost.

Families who take up the nappy offer are offered a discounted package should they wish to continue with reusable nappies. From June 2020 – April 2022, 224 families have used the discount and purchased further reusable nappies. The supplier started recording the data from June 2020 and we do not have a record of voucher redemptions before that period.

The Pollution, Prevention and Control (Scotland) Regulations 2012) (the “PPC regulations”) require that permits for the incineration or co-incineration of municipal waste contain such conditions as SEPA considers necessary to ensure, where practicable, that no waste including non-ferrous metals or hard plastics is incinerated or co-incinerated.

The recently published report on the Review of the Role of Incineration in the Waste Hierarchy makes a provisional recommendation on strengthening requirements for pre-treatment for residual waste. We are carefully considering all recommendations made in the report and will set out our initial response in June.

Official Statistics on Scottish greenhouse gas emissions are published annually ( Scottish Greenhouse Gas statistics: 1990-2019 ) and are used to monitor progress to Scotland’s statutory emissions reduction targets. These statistics are based on a disaggregation of the UK Greenhouse Gas Inventory, which is overseen by the UK Government Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and compiled in line with international scientific guidance.

At the time of writing, the UK Inventory does not allow for the isolation of data for emissions from waste incineration plants as opposed to other energy sector emissions. Decisions around the UK Inventory are a matter for BEIS and are informed by the UK National Inventory Steering Committee, which includes representation from Scottish Government officials.

Zero Waste Scotland advises us that they aim to publish the next update of the Material Flow Accounts by the end of September 2022.

Zero Waste Scotland informs us that they are still in the process of finalising the report and as such do not yet have a confirmed publication date for this work.

Zero Waste Scotland advises us that the steel research project will include four reports. These are:

• An update to the published carbon assessment comparing the impacts of exporting steel with recycling steel using an Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) located in Scotland;

• A market analysis to estimate the size of the scrap steel market in Scotland;

• An economic analysis that examines the business case for an EAF in Scotland; and

• An assessment of the role of Scottish steel in the energy transition.

The intention is to publish the series of reports at the same time, however Zero Waste Scotland does not yet have a confirmed date for publication.

In line with the waste hierarchy, the Scottish Government’s focus is on measures to promote reusable alternatives. For example, in 2019, Zero Waste Scotland launched its “Trial Period” behaviour change campaign to raise awareness of the benefits and encourage uptake of reusable alternatives to menstrual products. Further information on the campaign can be found here: Trial Period | Zero Waste Scotland .

As part of Scotland’s Baby Boxes initiative, a voucher is included in all boxes to encourage new parents to try reusable nappies. The voucher can be used for a free reusable nappy and a pack of liners.

In terms of recycling absorbent hygiene products, the Scottish Government’s £70 million Recycling Improvement Fund is open. The Fund aims to accelerate progress towards 2025 waste and recycling targets by strengthening and improving local authority recycling infrastructure resulting in improvements to the quality and quantity of material collected. This fund provides scope for local authorities to improve collection of problematic materials, including absorbent hygiene products.