Using products and resources responsibly - our corporate plan (2019-23)

View our latest Corporate Plan 2024-2023: Rewiring the economy.

Four-fifths of Scotland’s carbon footprint come from products and materials.  The production, consumption and waste of these products and materials are heating the earth at an alarming rate.  This includes the energy required to grow, make, process and transport them, whether they are made here in Scotland or elsewhere. Climate change doesn’t respect borders. It affects everyone.

Roughly three planets would be required if everyone lived the way people live in Scotland. And we only have one.

Scotland can show the world another way.

For Zero Waste Scotland that means we will lead Scotland to use products and resources responsibly.  Making Scotland a pioneer of the Circular Economy, just as we were a pioneer of the industrial revolution.

Our organisation is already at the heart of a political and public shift in attitudes towards the environmental consequences of our lifestyles. Making us a lighthouse for the circular economy. 

Zero Waste Scotland will focus on where, as a society, we can have the greatest impact on climate change.  This includes:

• Responsible Consumption – where people and businesses demand products and services in ways which respect the limits of our natural resources.
• Responsible Production – where a circular economy is embraced by businesses and organisations which supply products and services to get the maximum life and value from the natural resources used to make them;
• Maximising Value from Waste – where the environmental and economic value of wasted resources and energy is harnessed efficiently.

Our dedicated people, great relationships with partners - both locally and internationally - and trust from businesses and organisations, mean we are well placed to achieve the challenges ahead.

To meet the scale of the challenge, Zero Waste Scotland is evolving to meet our ambitions. Investing in our staff and building valuable partnerships will define our future success.

Through our values of being Pioneering, Collaborative, Focused and Authentic, we will show the world how to live a truly low carbon life.

This is our vision. This is our future. This is our plan…