Contributing to a more sustainable Scotland

Scottish Government policy

The Scottish Government's primary legislative drive for improving Scotland's environment is Climate Change (Scotland) Act. This was updated in 2019 to reflect the Scottish Government's declaration of a climate emergency, setting a target of net zero emissions by 2045.

On 28 February 2018, the Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform published the Climate Change Plan: Third Report on Policies and Proposals 2018-2032. This report details how the Scottish Government will continue to drive progress towards the emissions reduction target.

Latest policy updates

Circular Economy Bill

This is part of wider plans for a step-change in reducing, reusing and recycling materials and supports Scotland's transition to net zero emissions. The proposed primary legislation is very broad and well potentially give Scottish ministers the powers to implement mandatory charges on anything that they view as “single-use disposable items, that are harmful to the environment, that can be replaced with sustainable alternatives or are problematic to recycle”.

Read FDF Scotland's response to the Circular Economy Bill consultation.

Ambition 2025 – Shaping Sustainable Value Chains

As part of FDF's “Ambition 2025 – Shaping sustainable value chains” our members have achieved:

44% reduction in CO2 emissions
3.2% reduction in supply chain waste
3.9% reduction in the carbon impact of packaging
30.1% reduction in water use
6.8% reduction in transport emissions

Deposit return on drinks containers

We support the Scottish Government's ambition for a well-designed deposit return scheme. To make this happen we are in discussions with the Scottish Government and HM Treasury on the financial impacts and logistics of the proposed scheme.