Most committee members will be aware of the household recycling charter, which is voluntary. Twenty councils have signed up to it, including a number of island and rural local authorities. It is seen as helpful and a lot of work is being done with councils to help them with the charter.
We have a circular economy strategy that is set out in the “Making Things Last” document—of which, I am sure, Maurice Golden is aware. It includes a high-level ambition that every household in Scotland have access to a food waste service.
We are committed to reviewing the exemption from food waste collection in rural areas. We will discuss with local authorities how to take that forward, because obviously it needs to be looked at.
We have an ambitious target for reduction of food waste, and we will consult on whether it should be statutory. We are currently engaging with businesses and others to agree the key actions that would be required to deliver progress in that area.
I should say that 75 per cent of households have access to a food waste collection service. That represents 1.8 million households, which is up from 300,000 in 2010, so we have already made a huge step-change in this area. As I said, we are already discussing with local authorities whether the exemption from the separate food waste collection that applies in specified rural areas is sustainable.
Lots of things are happening. We are trying to achieve as many of them as possible on the basis of widespread agreement, with people accepting that this is actually the right way to move forward. The household recycling charter gives us the potential for the kind of process change across the board that will make it something that also helps the economy, because it will create business opportunities that would not exist if people had to deal with 32 different systems.