ELECTRONIC waste has been piled up outside the Scottish Parliament as MSPs prepare to take part in the final debate on a bill seeking to change the way waste is handled in Scotland.
Later this week, MSPs will vote on the Circular Economy (Scotland) Bill, which, if passed, would require ministers to develop a circular economy in Scotland.
A circular economy refers to a system where materials are reused, recycled or repaired in a sustainable manner.
It attempts to reduce the amount of waste produced and sent to landfill or incineration.
The environmental charity Friends of the Earth Scotland are calling on the bill to include a plan for materials which are necessary for the transition away from fossil fuels and which are also used in consumer electronics.
For example, precious minerals and metals such as copper, cobalt and lithium are used in renewable energy infrastructure as well as mobile phones and laptops.
Yet many of these materials are thrown away instead of being recycled due to inadequate systems.
Many of these materials also come from mines in countries such as Chile and the Democratic Republic of Congo, where concerns about labour laws and pollution have previously been highlighted. Kim Pratt, a circular economy campaigner at Friends of the Earth Scotland, said the bill needed to include a plan of how to deal with these materials.
“The scale of electronic waste in this country is shocking,” she said.
“All of the waste that we’ve gathered today came from simply asking around - most of us have something sitting in a cupboard because we don’t know what to do with it.
“Electrical waste contains precious material which is lost when these items are thrown away.
“Scotland can’t afford to keep treating electrical products, and the precious materials they contain, as disposable.
“Reducing our consumption of the materials used to create these products, by increasing reuse and repair, is essential to reduce the harm being done to people and the environment.
“The new circular economy law also needs to include a plan for these minerals, which are required for our transition away from fossil fuels.
“If the law does this, it has the potential to have a big impact in creating a fairer and more sustainable future.”
A study published in 2023 found that the UK was the second largest producer of electronic waste per-capita in the world.
However, only around 30% of this is recycled.
It comes as a company in Aberdeenshire explores the possibility of opening a critical minerals mine in Scotland.
