Going round in circles isn't usually thought of as a good thing to do but, in the context of resource use and economic growth, the idea of a circular economy is one that appeals to businesses, politicians, and environmentalists alike.
Major economies including China, Japan and Germany have industrial strategies to promote greater re-use and recycling of resources. Scotland could soon join them.
This country is already well set compared with the rest of the UK when it comes to securing more value from the resources that flow through the economy thanks to its Zero Waste Plan. This advantage is enhanced by a close-knit business community that lowers the costs of collaboration; world leading research institutions; and well-resourced development agencies that can take ideas from lab to commercial deployment. At the Scottish Council for Development and Industry's (SCDI) annual conference today, we are previewing the results of work we've carried out with the organisation and the Scottish business community on the opportunities for Scotland of a circular economy.
Commissioned by Zero Waste Scotland, this work looked at how to build on Scotland's advantages by developing more profitable ways to process existing resources and attract new technologies and industries to Scotland.
Our recommendations for the Scottish Government are based on discussions with the largest sectors in Scotland's economy, including food and drink, oil and gas, and finance. We researched the immediate opportunities to secure more from waste streams and by-products from these industries, as well as what more could be achieved with extra government support for innovation and co-ordination.
As an example, in the food and drink sector there's an immediate opportunity in expanding the use of anaerobic digestion (AD) for biodegradable wastes to produce a renewable alternative to natural gas and new source of fertiliser. Given the complexities of Scotland's geography and proportion of small and medium-sized businesses, making the most of this opportunity will require detailed planning to match the scale of the infrastructure with the quantity of material available. Collaboration between producers and undertaking some processing at the source of the waste will help to build economies of scale and lower transport costs.
Going beyond AD, Scotland's universities and innovation centres are looking at how to secure valuable proteins and hydrocarbons out of waste streams before they go into digesters. This promotes linkages between Scotland's major manufacturers, for example the selling of proteins to salmon farmers from the by-products of whisky distilleries, increasing the profitability, sustainability and resilience of both.
Circular economy approaches can also help get more from the North Sea oil and gas infrastructure that's due to be decommissioned between now and 2040 at an expected cost of up to £50 billion. Some 60% of the bill will be picked up by the public, thanks to tax relief, so it's in everyone's interest to recover as much of the cost as possible by being smarter about the fate of the hardware. An immediate opportunity would be to sort out rig metals into different alloys. Some stainless steels with high chromium content are worth double the value of basic mild steel so it makes sense to recycle them separately and preserve their higher value.
Better yet would be to keep pipelines where they are and reuse them for transporting CO2 from the mainland to the old oilfields for carbon capture and storage. With its expertise in pumping gas and offshore infrastructure, Scotland is well placed to lead the development of this new climate-change mitigation technology, if it takes off.
Identifying and pursuing these and other circular economy opportunities and focusing on sustainability as part of the economic growth strategy can put Scotland in a stronger position as a resilient, globally competitive 21st century economy.
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