Consumption Reduction Targets (Legal Status Research)
Zero Waste Scotland research shows that other countries have taken a range of approaches to setting consumption reduction targets, and did not identify any legally binding consumption reduction targets in other countries.
As part of the Scottish Government's consultation on proposals for a Circular Economy Bill, Scottish Government has recognised the importance of being able to monitor progress towards a circular economy and has set out an intention to set statutory circular economy targets through secondary legislation, underpinned by a wider monitoring framework.
To support this, Zero Waste Scotland has undertaken research to identify consumption-based targets elsewhere. This research, which was carried out in January 2022, has highlighted that there is currently no consistent approach to measuring consumption in other countries and consumption-based targets are rare.
Zero Waste Scotland is continuing to work with The Scottish Government to support the development of a monitoring approach which will allow for holistic tracking of Scotland's consumption levels and wider measures of circularity, whilst also taking into account the wider social, economic and environmental impacts.
Reducing consumer and business demand for materials could result in a substantial reduction in Scotland's environmental impact. This requires fundamental changes in behaviours, which will challenge some of Scotland’s social norms but is essential to tackle in the face of a climate emergency.
