In a country where nature is part of the economy, with tourism one of the major incomes, finding ways to preserve the environment, essentially our natural capital, is a challenge for everyone. By Heather Sterland
By Heather Sterland
Being circular is a term which is on the rise, but what exactly is the circular economy? The principles of circular economy stem from industrial ecology. In nature, waste from one process, becomes energy for another. Industrial ecology works by mirroring this: minimising waste by keeping matter in circulation, in one form or another, for as long as possible. The principles are reduce, reuse and recycle, the first of which is the biggest challenge, as it involves doing less consuming, less travelling in the wrong way, and less social media scrolling.
But to pause briefly to pose a question to you, our reader: What is your most memorable ‘Circular-economy-in-the-city’ story? We gathered some from those living in and around Glasgow and spoke with Lorna Slater, who was minister for green skills, circular economy and biodiversity, between 2021 and 2024 – about what Glasgow and Scotland are generally doing well with, and we’ve selected a few things to look out for.
DRS Deposit Return Scheme
The DRS Deposit Return Scheme has been in the works since 2020, and will launch in 2027 across the whole of the UK. Glasgow is key to the scheme. It was supposed to go live in 2025, but was delayed for political reasons. Many businesses in Glasgow have already invested in the reverse vending machines central to the system, and it’s important to support them when it finally does go live.
How will it work? Reverse vending machines will take in correctly labelled empty bottles (you have to look for drinks bottles that are labelled with the system’s logo) and machines will produce a receipt which can be taken to the tills and cashed in.
Dozens of countries have introduced bottle return deposit schemes. Canada’s British Columbia established theirs in 1970; Sweden, in the 80s; Ireland got theirs last year. In Amsterdam the system goes by the name of Statiegeld (having gradually established the system since 2006); in Germany, it’s called the ‘Pfand’ system (since 2003).
gov.scot/policies/managing-waste/deposit-return-scheme
Blackthorn Salt from Ayr
Blackthorn Salt is produced at Blackthorn Tower, in Ayr. It is the only functioning graduation tower in the world, and the first ever to use seawater.
The Blackthorn Salt story is the environmental fairytale for the net-zero age. Many years ago, when salt production along Scotland’s coastline was in full fury, salt makers used fires to heat up seawater, turning it to crystal. But this was the age of the linear economy.
Blackthorn Salt harnesses the power of wind and sun, and a much gentler heat is used. Droplets are recycled; packaging is thoughtful, innovative, and plastic free; they are also growing blackthorn bushes on-site. These will take a few years to grow, and will then reduce emissions associated with import.
Blackthorn Salt’s graduation tower is a wooden structure (they used renewable Scottish wood, larch and Douglas fir timbers) which houses bundles of thorns, stacked all the way up its walls. These thorns catch falling droplets of seawater, and stretch them out, increasing their surface area. Wind and sun evaporate water from the droplets, and what’s left is an ever more concentrated brine solution. Droplets trickle through the tower several times, before enough water has been evaporated off for the desired concentration. Starting with 100% Scottish seawater, from Troon, salt concentration starts at 3.5%, reaching 22%, before being heated. Large pans in the pan house heat the brine, to a 26% strength, at which point the pyramidal-like sodium chloride salt crystals – with natural trace elements of magnesium and calcium – start to form.
Waste Not…
‘We catch every drop,’ says co-founder Whirly, about closing the loop at Blackthorn Tower.
She explains their manufacturing efficiencies: ‘If we carry on heating the brine, until it is all completely dry, we’re using too much energy for the quantity of crystals and the balance gets skewed. It becomes bitter, as it has too much magnesium in it. We draw the crystals off when it’s nearly dry. This means that there is some brine left,’ which she describes, is captured, and reused, by being dropped through the tower again.
Glasgow stockists include: Pasco’s Deli, Zucchini Cathcart, Starter Culture, Zucchini Greengrocers, Locavore, and Barnhill Farmshop. A site visit to Blackthorn Tower might even include a tasting session in their reimagined vintage train carriage.
Vertical farming solutions from Fife
Westender Andrew Haxton is business development manager at Intelligent Growth Solutions (IGS), in Inverkeithing. They are designing indoor growth towers, to manage plant production all year round, in any climate. Haxton says: ‘Our ambition is that more of our customers in the UK will be producing food locally and supplying supermarkets in places like Glasgow in the near future. We’re not quite there yet, but that’s the direction of travel.’
Glasgow’s SWG3 and RSNO
A music venue in the heart of the city, SWG3, is not only employing a reusable cup service, Stackup, but running by heat pump. Meanwhile the Royal Scottish National Orchestra is reviewing how the company travels to the office, performances and rehearsals, encouraging car sharing, sponsoring train and group bus travel; also advocating the cycle to work scheme with alacrity.
‘Significant environmental gains lie in getting more people using buses habitually,’ Lorna Slater details. Adding: ‘To make a generational shift away from cars and normalise public transport.’ She knows that it’s possible, by gradually eroding bus fares away, for example, starting with under 30s, meaning that buses could become free for everyone.
Delving deeper into what currently works in Glasgow, she says: ‘Glasgow has excellent bike lanes. Nationally, one of the best, and there’s the subway, of course, which everyone loves… and I also wish we had such good bike infrastructure here in Edinburgh.’
Planes, Trains and Automobiles
If buses and bikes are the way forward, why are planes still so popular? ‘It’s cheaper to fly from Glasgow to London than it is to take the train. Aviation companies do not pay tax on their aviation fuel,’ Slater emphasises. ‘You pay for your fuel for your car, but they do not. It is subsided by the taxpayer. We are all paying for cheap flights, even if we do not use them.’ Slater cited other countries, like France, who have banned short-haul flights. ‘If we followed suit, a short-haul distance, like Glasgow to London, would be banned.’
Slater agreed that taking the train can be a tough ask, especially when it’s four times the price, but if people can afford to do so, consumer patterns can catalyse a zeitgeist shift. Her and her husband have not flown for several years now, and have discovered some great places in Europe, like snorkeling in a marine national park in South of France, having got there by train.
She admits that holidaying across Scotland by train alone is a challenge, and goes to Perthshire every summer, albeit by car, to do nature restoration work, and spoke fondly about staycations in Oban, too.
Cleaner Travel
She has managed some journeys by train, however: ‘I did get to Orkney’ she says, with satisfaction. ‘The train gets into Thurso and you wait for the ferry, even if it is five hours.’
Travelling by train produces one tenth of the greenhouse gases associated with flying. A return flight Glasgow to London, produces 0.32 tCO2e pp. By train, this would be one tenth, 0.032 tCO2e.
The CO2e, Carbon Dioxide Equivalent unit, helps compare the warming effects of different greenhouse gases – gases like methane and nitrous oxide. These gases each have a global warming potential (GWP), and when a certain quantity of that gas is emitted, the equivalent amount of carbon dioxide, (the amount of CO2 which would produce the same warming effect) is written, in CO2e.
May and June Circular Mixers
Glasgow Chamber of Commerce’s ‘Circular Glasgow Mixer Series’ will be held on the last Friday of the month. 29th May and 26th June, 2.30-5pm.
