Single-use packaging is targeted in Islands Green Recovery Programme

Now, with the Islands Green Recovery Programme, they can play a leading role in developing solutions.

The £2million programme, announced in the Scottish Government’s Programme for Government 2020-21, is designed to inspire locally-led green projects designed to help support the islands recovery from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

As part of this, Zero Waste Scotland, which will also receive match funding from the European Regional Development Fund, will reduce single-use grocery packaging across the islands. At present, these communities have to bear the double burden of dealing with importing single-use items and then the shipping off of waste.

Accounting for approximately 13% (315,000 tonnes/year) of all household waste in Scotland, this equates to roughly 130kg of single-use grocery packaging per household and generates an estimated 650,000 tonnes of global production emissions per year. Single-use grocery packaging is also a significant source of litter.

While Scotland continues to take action to improve recycle rates for single-use packaging waste, the greatest environmental benefits occur from avoiding single-use packaging through prevention and reuse. The Islands Green Recovery Programme Refill Fund will allow organisations and businesses in island communities to gain funding to offer groceries in packaging-free refill dispensers.

All applicants to the fund must be an islands-based small or medium sized enterprise (SME) with a clear and credible plan to develop package free shopping opportunities in the grocery retail sector.

Funding is available for dispensing equipment for providing a wide range of grocery items in a packaging-free way, so customers can refill using their own re-usable packaging brought from home. This includes dispensers for dry goods such as cereals, pulses, grains, herbs, spices, pasta and rice, liquid items such as milk, fruit juices, oils and vinegars, and other products such as laundry detergents, washing up liquids, fabric softeners, liquid soaps, hand sanitizer, shampoos and bathing products. A list of potential ‘kit’ required can be found here but this is not an exclusive list.

If you have any questions about the fund criteria or application process, please contact Lesley McMurtrie at IGRP@zerowastescotland.org.uk.

Zero Waste Scotland has already provided advice and funding support to a number of packaging free shops in Scotland, and may be able to support applicants with expertise and networking.  Please use the contact above and outline the kind of support you are looking for, and we will do our best to put you in touch with someone who can help.

The following film shows support provided through Zero Waste Scotland’s Waste Prevention Implementation Fund to Locavore in Glasgow, which was the first store in Scotland to offer a comprehensive packaging free range of items, which may be useful to view for an understanding of what options can be provided to customers.

What support can Zero Waste Scotland provide to businesses who want to go package free?

Zero Waste Scotland has already provided advice and funding support to a number of packaging free shops in Scotland and may be able to support applicants with expertise and networking.  Please contact us on IGRP@zerowastescotland.org.uk and outline the kind of support you are looking for, and we will do our best to put you in touch with someone who can help.