Our environmental impact

At Zero Waste Scotland, we are continuously looking at ways to improve our environmental performance. We aim to maximise our impact through three objectives, ensuring our efforts deliver not just climate benefits but also drive social and economic value through circularity.

Align with national targets, policies, and proposals to identify the ‘routes to net zero’ that we should take, while embedding circular economy principles.
Achieve delivery and governance structure that maximises our impact which will be supported by continuous monitoring and reporting.
Advocate how we will build evidence and insights into the contribution of the circular economy to tackle climate change, and how these can be maximised.

What we are doing

We are broadening our reach and developing enhanced measures of the social and economic value of the circular economy. A critical part of this effort involves gaining a deeper understanding of how different initiatives impact emissions and material use. By refining our approach, we aim to strategically focus our influence where it can most effectively drive progress towards net zero.

To reduce emissions across our operations, we are committed to identifying and implementing effective decarbonisation strategies. These include transitioning to low carbon heat sources, adopting renewable electricity, and prioritising sustainable travel, such as trains over planes. Additionally, we will reduce the demand for carbon-intensive activities by minimising energy use, travelling less and reducing waste.

To engage colleagues, we align our approach with the Scottish Government’s Public Engagement Strategy for Net Zero, which ensures colleagues understand the issue, how they can participate in tackling it and are empowered to take action will help maximise our impact through:

Making low carbon choices to support organisational efforts to reduce emissions
Ensuring the work we do actively drives climate change outcomes.
Adopting low carbon behaviours outside of work.

Together, these actions will help us reduce emissions and lead the way toward a sustainable future.

Net Zero Strategy

Rewiring the economy is the golden thread of Zero Waste Scotland’s latest corporate plan – our dynamic blueprint that sets out our strategic vision for Scotland’s circular journey. Our Net Zero Strategy 'our route to net zero' is central to advancing this transformation, driving impactful action to meet the challenges of climate change.

By aligning ourselves to national targets and looking to best practice we can be confident we are maximising our contribution to tackling climate change. We will review our Net Zero Strategy annually to ensure it remains aligned with targets, policies and best practice.