In Scotland, the circular economy is more than an occasion for eco-virtue. It’s ingenious and fun too
From Jaw Brew
Great reporting by Vicky Allen of the (Scottish) Herald on those pursuing the “circular economy” in Scotland. It’s quality not quantity she’s reporting on - circular comprises only 1.3% of the Scottish economy, compared to 25% of the Dutch economy. And according to a Zero Waste Scotland report, the country’s Scotland’s material throughput per head is almost double the average on the planet.
But what we like is the joy Vicky captures in the practice of everyday circularity.
The piece begins with Olivia at Edinburgh’s Remakery, stripping gold from computer motherboards, selling it back to the Treasury rather than seeing it disappear into landfill. But it then covers companies like Jaw Brew, making beer from bread leftovers, Or ReBlade, who transform old wind-turbine blades into bike shelters, benches and walkways, and educational/training materials.
As Vicky writes:
One of the best ways to understand the potential of circularity – and also what may be right or wrong about the bill - is to talk with those who already live it. These are people who talk of “hierarchies of waste” and extoll the need to keep materials as high as possible on that ladder. Often the words they use are not ‘circular economy’ but ‘repair’, ‘reuse’, ‘share’ and ‘upcycle’.
We meet Laura Young of the Less Waste Laura Instagram account who campaigns against vapes waste, but is interested in all possibilities for up cycling. Below she’s winning influencer of the year—but in a rented black dress
Another ingenious circular intervention profiled here is ReSet Scenery, who responded to the recent boom in film and tv production in Scotland. This has resulted in rates of material used going up from about 450 tonnes annually in 2016, to around 4500 tonnes. ReSet set themselves the task of intervening before the sets hit the skips. They assess they take 8 tonnes of general waste, and transform it into 7 tones of recycled, reused or reclaimed materials (one tone of unrecyclable waste at the end).
The Edinburgh Remakery, mentioned at the beginning, doesn’t just strip motherboards for gold, but also uses its ingenuity to benefit the community. Vicky Allen: “they donated 452 devices to people facing digital poverty. Their tech boxes saved 2,280 devices in a year and prevented 311,548 kg of CO2 emissions.”
All of this is in the political context of a Circular Economy Bill going through the Scottish Parliament, where Scottish Greens minister Lorna Slater describes the need to “deliver a fundamental shift across society to reduce the demand for raw materials and to encourage reuse, repairs and recycling”,
As Vicky writes:
Some MSPs have said they want the bill to be more ambitious, and campaigners have called for targets on reduction of consumption to be included. Among them is Kim Pratt, Friends of the Earth’s circular economy campaigner, who said: “Around half of Scotland’s emissions are not tackled by our existing climate targets because they don’t include imports. If consumption targets were brought in under the new circular economy law, Scotland would finally start taking responsibility for its global impact.”
Elaine Brown, CEO of the Remakery, expressed her disappointment at the speed of progress on the circular economy. “Three years ago I sat on a consultation for the circular economy bill and three years on we’re still faffing about with it.”
“The bill frustrates me because it’s not ambitious enough. We need really strong targets on material consumption and what we really need is to stop talking about recycling. To me recycling is the first point of failure in the waste hierarchy. When we’re starting to recycle we’ve lost already.”
She pointed to shelves of textiles, all saved from landfill: “We are all about repair, reuse, rethink. We don’t mention the word recycle. I think the circular economy bill is not pushing repair and reuse high enough up.”
This last part shows the kind of independence of mind that is ideal to see in community initiatives - aware that their autonomy gives them the right to push legislation to go further.
More from the Herald here.