What’s been happening with circular economy this year?
2024 has been a big year for circular economy campaigning!
As we approach the end of the year, here’s a look back at what’s been happening.
A new circular economy law for Scotland
We have been campaigning for a new law to make the way we use materials more sustainable for many years, and this work finally came to fruition this year with the unanimous passing of the Circular Economy Bill by MSPs in the Scottish Parliament.
The law was inarguably made better thanks to all of you who took part in raising awareness about the issues caused by overconsumption and putting pressure on politicians to make the law as effective as possible.
In the final year of the law’s development, over 1000 people joined our call for the law to include a target to reduce how much materials we use in Scotland and the global carbon emissions associated with this. And we had a lot of fun along the way!
In February, we came together with other climate and reuse groups and activists to stage a fashion show of upcycled outfits outside of the Scottish Parliament. Models took to the catwalk in outfits including a dress made of bike inner tubes to highlight that 65% of our clothing is made from fossil fuel-based plastic, a cape made from plastic bottles collected from beach litter, and an electric cable headdress to highlight the impacts of mining for metals and lack of repair opportunities for electronic waste in Scotland.
Through our evidence session and briefings to MSPs we provided expertise on how to create a circular economy in Scotland. Many of you also directly emailed your MSPs to push them on the same issues.
The day before the final debate on the bill, we piled up electrical waste outside the Scottish Parliament to show MSPs they had to do more to improve the way electrical waste is managed.
The final version of the bill included significant improvements including a requirement to consider the carbon footprint of materials and the need to consider communities and workers in circular economy plans.
The new law isn’t perfect, but it is already making is easier to hold government to account for its actions. We expect the new strategy based on the circular economy law to consider the environmental and human rights impacts of Scotland’s supply chains for the first time, redefining what we expect a circular economy to achieve.
Shining a spotlight on the incineration boom
Despite a ban, incinerators continue to be built across Scotland. Throughout 2024, we have teamed up with anti-incineration groups to fight back. We have helped to keep the issue in the press, highlighting the growing incineration problem and the governmental failures that means it keeps rising.
Over 600 people wrote to their MSPs calling for loopholes in the ban on incinerators to be closed. We called for an investigation into the Scottish Government’s lack of action to curb incineration capacity and this is now being considered by Scotland’s environmental watchdog, Environmental Standards Scotland.
Curbing incineration is essential to a more sustainable future for Scotland – we can’t break free of our throw away society if we continue to burn resources for decades to come.
A global treaty to end plastic pollution
The first ever global treaty to end plastic pollution is a unique opportunity to turn the tide on plastic pollution for good.
We urged the Scottish Government to do all it can to support the Global Plastics Treaty internationally and domestically. Scotland consumes huge amounts of plastic, and the Scottish Government can show real leadership by investing in reuse programmes and making producers pay for the cleanup of their plastic products.
The way we use plastics and its impacts on both people and the planet, is one example of unjust resource use.
We have been working with Friends of the Earth Philippines and Edinburgh University to understand how our resource use can be fairer. We plan to embed this thinking in our circular economy campaign work in the future.
Read more about the Global Plastics Treaty
What’s next?
Looking ahead to next year, Scotland will reach another circular economy milestone: 2025 is the year that Scotland was meant to hit its 70% recycling target. Sadly, there is no way that can happen now as our recycling rate has been stuck around 43% for a decade, but we know that recycling is not the only thing that has to change.
We will continue to stand up to plans for new incinerators, highlight how communities can and should be included in national circular economy plans and show how materials can be used more fairly and sustainably in Scotland and our supply chains.
We couldn’t do any of the work we do without the support of our members. If you haven’t already, would you like to join us today?