Circular Tayside
Tayside is characterised by an incredibly rich set of resources arising from communities and households, industry and agriculture.
This report, delivered in partnership with Perthshire Chamber of Commerce and Dundee & Angus Chamber of Commerce, is designed to help readers understand the economic activities at the local and regional level and to highlight the scale of some of the circular economy opportunities.
These high-level sector action plans serve as a guide for the next step of the regional strategy, which is to engage with businesses and facilitate the implementation of circular economy opportunities.
The breadth and scale of the opportunities confirm the unique and strategic role cities and their surrounding areas will play in the transition to the circular economy.
Circular economy opportunities in Tayside
Regions can act as innovation centres and frontrunners for a circular economy transition due to their scale and diverse economies. In 2014, the Tay Cities economic region generated around 8% of Scotland’s gross value added (GVA) worth just over £9 billion.
Predicted economic benefits in Tayside from adopting a circular economy are around £404 million:
- Construction and the built environment sector – £185 million
- Energy infrastructure sector – £186 million
- Manufacturing sector – £19 million
- Food and drink sector, and the wider bioeconomy – £14 million
The key circular economy opportunities we identified in Tayside are summarised as follows:
Food and drink and the wider bioeconomy
- Unused fruit valorisation
- Potato residue valorisation
- Starch production from by-products
- Plastics as part of the circular economy
- Tackling food waste across the value chain
Construction and the built environment
- Circular economy in infrastructure procurement
- Building refurbishment and regeneration
Manufacturing
- Innovative circular economy manufacturing
Energy infrastructure
- Oil and gas decommissioning