While we support much of what is in the Government’s draft strategy, the current version misses a crucial piece of the puzzle. The vision references businesses and the public sector but fails to explicitly mention volunteers or the charity sector, which is a significant oversight. Charity retailers in Scotland and all those working or volunteering in Scottish charity shops are leading advocates and innovators in building a circular economy, and are leading the way, which is why it is so disappointing that their role is not a central part of the Government’s strategy.
In our response, we made it clear that the strategy’s vision must be enhanced to incorporate the contributions of the not-for-profit sector and the immense value of volunteering. We cannot have an effective circular economy strategy without the expertise and effectiveness of charity retailers.
In addition to a lack of focus on the role of charity shops, we also raised concerns regarding proposals for local authorities to collect used textiles via doorstep waste collections. This risks diverting high-quality stock away from shops and towards recycling or incineration, harming both fundraising via charity shops and the environment.
Instead, we are calling for a partnership approach, which sees the Scottish Government working with charity retailers to expand reuse volumes and promote the buying and donating of second-hand items. This needs to be supported by an extended producer responsibility scheme for textiles as a way of increasing the quality and durability of clothing being produced, and to generate funds to support reuse. Some of these funds could be used to mitigate some of the costs charity retailers face when handling clothing donations that are of insufficient quality to be reworn.
Our submission can be found here and you can read the Scottish Government’s draft strategy here.
