The Green Alliance in partnership with SCDI.

The report can be accessed through this link

Rising resource risks and the growing recognition of the economic value being lost in waste have raised business interest in the circular economy. These trends are feeding a more interventionist approach to resource policy in countries as diverse as the US, China, Germany, Japan and Korea. This analysis shows how Scotland could help to make its economy more circular, by assessing potential opportunities in three exemplar sectors; oil and gas, food and drink, and finance. These sectors all have a reliance on STEM skills and attributes.

The report explains that a circular economy restores old products, parts and materials back to their original use in a way that uses the least resources to deliver the same function. It outlines Scotland’s opportunities and challenges, derived from its particular political climate, policies, institutions and scale. The report considers the wider lessons on how Scotland might capture the biggest circular economy opportunities. It suggests that Scotland is well positioned to capitalise on its high social connectedness and policy leadership on low carbon technology to develop and pilot more innovative, valuable, and ambitious circular economy business models and technologies. The report concludes that Scotland needs a targeted, challenge-led innovation strategy run by institutions empowered to drive technically risky, but potential big win circular economy pilot projects. It suggests that this strategy will be more likely to succeed if targeted towards innovations that will help Scotland’s key sectors adapt to a more resource constrained world.