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Our Route Map to a Circular Future

22 Jan 25 3 minute read

They say all you need is the plan, the road map, and the courage to press on to your destination.

Well, when Scottish Government published ‘Scotland’s Circular Economy and Waste Route Map to 2030’ (Route Map) in December, it felt like we could enter 2025 with all three.

Author

Jane Beasley

Director of Operations

About the Route Map

The Route Map sets out an ambitious plan to deliver actions that the government, in collaboration with others, must take to accelerate progress towards a circular economy between now and 2030.

Its launch not only reflects the culmination of several years hard work and collaboration, but it sends out a loud and clear signal: that Scotland remains committed to changing how we view and use resources.

As Scotland’s circular economy public body, Zero Waste Scotland worked alongside our Scottish Government and Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) colleagues to develop the Route Map, considering the art of the possible in how we can move away from the traditional ‘take, make, waste’ approach, towards the adoption and integration of more sustainable and circular economy practices. After all, we know that a zero waste, circular economy is the right choice - for people, planet, and prosperity.

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The Route Map's Journey

Throughout the Route Map’s journey to publication, we’ve been part of an extensive amount of stakeholder engagement, exploring ideas together and testing approaches and interventions, and we’ve been integral in commissioning research and evidence to support our thinking.

As the Route Map made its way through two consultation stages, it received largely positive endorsement across different sectors and stakeholders have continued to buy into the principle that we need to go further, faster, and at scale, to really start addressing the challenges we face. Not only in Scotland but on an international level.

"...the real work starts now. We must implement and drive forward the Route Map’s actions, looking forward to what’s needed to provide the foundations of its next iteration."

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The end product is a Route Map that sets out to provide a direction of travel towards more efficient and effective use of resources, with priority actions clearly identified.

It’s easy to pick fault or look for what’s missing, or what could have been worded differently to increase its potential or intent, but the fact remains that, in Scotland, we now have a Circular Economy (Scotland) Act 2024 and a Route Map. These have been designed to drive change and support our ambitions to fundamentally shift how we access, produce, consume, use, and manage resources.

However, the real work starts now. We must implement and drive forward the Route Map’s actions, looking forward to what’s needed to provide the foundations of its next iteration.

There’s no time to stand still and we all need to recognise that, through collective effort and delivery, we will reap the benefits not only from an environmental perspective, but from an economic one too. In other words, the onus cannot be on just one organisation, or sector, to deliver change, which is why relationships are fundamental to success.

Understandably, due to our involvement and input into the process, the focus and intention of the Route Map resonates with much of what Zero Waste Scotland wants to achieve over the coming years: a rewired economy where we’ve moved away from our current linear system to one which fully embraces circularity.

Delivery of the Route Map

Through helping people care, making circularity easier, doing more where it matters most, and improving infrastructure, we’re in a position to support Scottish Government in the delivery of key elements of the Route Map, working with partners to optimise progress.

We know that bringing about change at the scale and pace required is a significant undertaking, but we’re committed to playing our part - a commitment that we want to see mirrored by all our stakeholders as we remain steadfast in our belief that collaboration remains at the heart of Scotland’s journey towards a circular economy.