Scottish Government consultations

We asked for views on an updated waste ‘Duty of Care Code of Practice for managing controlled waste’ and publish associated documents. The updated Code of Practice implements a Scottish Government commitment to require collection of plastic films for recycling from businesses from 31 March 2027.

We received 26 responses to this consultation. Of these, 2 responded as individuals and 24 on behalf of an organisation. A full set of responses to this consultation can be viewed through the 'Published responses' link below.

A summary of consultation answers and the government response has been published on the Scottish Government website. The document can be found here: Duty of Care: Code of Practice for Managing Controlled Waste consultation - Government Response - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

We asked for views on a draft Circular Economy Strategy for Scotland. The consultation was held between 21 October 2025 and 13 January 2026. The draft strategy set out the overarching framework for Scotland’s transition to a more circular economy, setting out our vision, key outcomes and priority areas for action across sectors and policy mechanisms.

We received 190 responses from public sector, private sector, charitable and international organisations and individual respondents. We also received over 1200 campaign responses from Friends of the Earth Scotland. Feedback from the consultation was largely positive with a large number of respondents agreeing with the vision and outcomes in principle, and overall there was general support for the draft strategy’s aims and content. Headline findings include:

• 82% either agreed or strongly agreed with the vision and outcomes.
• 73% either agreed or strongly agreed with the policy mechanisms.
• 71% either agreed or strongly agreed with the priority sectors.

An independent analysis was carried out of consultation responses.

A detailed report of the consultation process and how responses were taken into account has been published. Headline updates to the strategy include:

• The vision and outcomes were updated, in particular to recognise tackling consumption and international impacts.
• Producer responsibility text was updated to provide more clarity and make explicit reference to the importance of reuse and repair, for example.
• We emphasised the importance of plastics, chemicals and electronics and explained why we are considering these as part of our wider sector and product approach rather than as standalone sectors.
• Updated wording around international impacts was included.
• An additional ‘due diligence’ policy mechanism and related priority was included.

We asked for views on a minor amendment to road works legislation. We sought views on the proposal to revoke the Scottish Statutory Instrument which accounts for the target cost of operating the Scottish Road Works Register and replace it with a new Regulation to account for the overall running cost in the 2026/27 financial year. The projected running cost for 2026/27 will increase to £1,192,625 from £1,008,819.

In total, seven responses to the consultation were received, primarily from roads authorities. Brief analysis of these responses is detailed below.

There was strong support for the proposal; six of the seven responses gave support for the proposal. One organisation was not content with the agreed cost sharing matrix developed by the Roads Authority and Utility Committee (Scotland).

In relation to the response in opposition to the proposal, the organisation suggested a different splitting model for future years in addition to opposing the current one.

The consultation responses have been carefully considered, most of the respondents supported the proposal to replace the 2025 Scottish Statutory Instrument. As a result, we will now revoke the Scottish Statutory Instrument, “The “Scottish Road Works Register (Prescribed Fees) Regulations 2025”, and replace it with a new Regulation as proposed.