S6W-27842

Asked by: Adamson, Clare (Scottish National Party - Motherwell and Wishaw)

Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to support the development of infrastructure to enable the re-use, repair and re-manufacturing of e-waste products according to the waste hierarchy.

Answered by Martin, Gillian - Minister for Energy and the Environment

We will focus on policies and activities that have the greatest environmental and economic impact while continuing to encourage best practice by all businesses and consumers, with the aim to produce, consume and manage resources as effectively as possible. The Product Stewardship Strategy will set out a clear, cohesive approach to tackling the environmental and social impacts of products placed on the Scottish market, making the most of opportunities within the competence of the Scottish Government to reduce the environmental impacts of products and goods, and being clear where this requires further action from the UK Government.

S6W-27885

Asked by: Regan, Ash (Alba Party - Edinburgh Eastern)

Question

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions (a) it and (b) its agencies have had with (i) the UK Government, (ii) local authorities, (ii) devolved nations and (iv) other countries on the purchase of hydrogen buses manufactured in Scotland.

Answered by Hyslop, Fiona - Minister for Transport

The Scottish Government participates in the UK Hydrogen Propulsion Manufacturing Taskforce. The taskforce works to develop recommendations on how government and industry can maximise investment opportunities for the UK manufacturing of hydrogen propulsion systems. This has included reference to the opportunities for hydrogen fuel cell buses. The taskforce has been paused during the pre-election period for the UK general election.

As set out in our Hydrogen Action Plan, hydrogen in the transport sector could act as a complementary energy alongside battery electrification, providing an option to parts of the transport sector such as heavy duty vehicles, when battery electrification is challenging. However, it is up to individual bus operating companies to determine what type of zero emission vehicles best suits their particular circumstances, and for manufacturers to respond to that demand in the way that they think is most appropriate.

Mentions:
1: Boyack, Sarah (Lab - Lothian) It would create direct jobs in clean power and manufacturing and invest in the plumbers and builders - Speech Link
2: Kerr, Liam (Con - North East Scotland) interesting contribution—2021 figures show that around a quarter of the UK’s oil and gas goes towards manufacturing - Speech Link