IAIN GULLAND

Scotland is rightly famous for pioneering life-changing innovation.
It is impossible now to imagine a world without telephones or antibiotics, to name but two examples.

Necessity really is the mother of invention. And these ground-breaking advances in communication and health, which we now take for granted, both ultimately contribute to our survival. 

They also work best in tandem. After all, what use is penicillin if you can’t call a doctor to make an appointment, or if the surgery can’t ring the pharmaceutical firm to order more supplies? As we face up to the climate emergency what we need now more than anything else are radical new and collaborative ways to live and work sustainably so that we and our planet can thrive.

And we have them. The forward-thinking firms and entrepreneurs which Zero Waste Scotland is working with are already pioneering the circular economy – keeping goods and materials in a useful loop for as long as possible through reuse, remanufacture, repair and finally recycling to maximise the value of our limited resources.

These pioneers are providing and developing a diverse range of everyday products in innovative new sustainable ways, from lighting and computers to beds and beer. 

Tomorrow hundreds of leaders in business, policy and the public sector will join Zero Waste Scotland at the Scottish Resources Conference (SRC) to celebrate and learn from these early adaptors. That second part is vital. Because we cannot create the truly circular national economy we so urgently need unless every single business and organisation follows suit, and does so fast. No matter how excellent their ideas and progress, the pioneers we work with cannot do this alone.

Our huge consumption habit consistently causes the vast majority of the carbon emissions behind the climate emergency – so we need a national shift in behaviour. The traditional, linear system of making, using and binning products with little thought for the consequences has always been wasteful. And now the rise of fast food and more recently fast fashion is making that waste even worse.

Millions of people now see the harm wreaked by our culture of convenience on endless news reports and documentaries on television such as the BBC’s recent War on Plastic. 

I doubt that legendary Scot John Logie Baird ever envisioned that the TV he invented would broadcast such shocking scenes. 

But Scottish wildlife cameraman and photographer Doug Allan knows all too well the effect we, as people, are having on the planet. His award-winning work for BBC series such as Blue Planet has shown people how incredible our world is, and how blighted it is by climate change and plastic pollution. His powerful images have helped to fuel the public appetite for change which we have seen in the growing climate strike protests here and overseas. 

This week he will give a keynote speech at the SRC. Making that link between what we make, buy and often waste, the problems that causes and the solution which the circular economy presents is key. If consumers and companies join forces to change how they shop and work they can make a real, lasting difference. And not just in reducing the carbon emissions from all that waste. Becoming more sustainable will also help tackle a host of serious, related environmental issues from pollution to species loss. 

Over the next five years we are ramping up our work to help more businesses and the public sector find the best way to become more sustainable. What works for one firm or industry may not work for another. Revolutionising the way we design, produce and use everyday items involves complex challenges which will not be overcome overnight. Which is all the more reason why we need to close the loop sooner by transitioning to a nationwide circular economy much faster than we are currently. We won’t meet the Scottish Government target for net zero carbon emissions by 2045 if we move too slowly. We need to reach a tipping point within the next five years, so there is no time to waste.

We have already shown that nationwide change is possible, however. Scotland’s plastic bag charge reduced use of disposable carriers by 80 per cent within a year. Scotland’s new deposit return scheme, urging shoppers to recycle their empty drinks bottles and cans to get their deposit back, promises to be equally successful.

We have played a lead role in both schemes, which take advantage of people’s natural inclination to avoid cost where that cost is made clear.

Tomorrow we will publish a report suggesting that the same behaviour can be harnessed to dramatically reduce the millions of unnecessary, disposable cups which Scots use each year. That will help to inform valuable debate at the SRC as the Scottish Government considers the best way to address single use items. In just over 12 months Scotland will host the 26th United Nations climate change summit, the Conference of the Parties (COP26). 

That landmark event will bring world leaders here to agree the further action needed to combat the climate emergency. By that time we can, and must, be well on the way to making Scotland famous for the innovation needed to safeguard the future of the planet.