Nearly one in ten jobs in Scotland (8.1% or 207,400 jobs) are generated by the circular economy. This share of circular employment is broadly on par with other countries where similar analyses have been carried out, such as the Netherlands and Belgium. In relative terms, there were no significant regional differences across Scotland in the share of circular jobs, which ranged from 7% to 9.8% in line with the national picture.

The report features 6 company / product case studies:

1) Kenoteq K-Brick. Made of more than 90% recycled construction and demolition waste.

2) Cesscon Decom: decommissioning services across the whole lifecycle from initial services offshore to end-of-life onshore dismantlement, decontamination and recycling.

3) Renewable Parts Ltd: The refurbishment and remanufacture of wind turbine components.

4) Cuantec: a prototype of bioplastic from chitin, for use as food packaging. Chitin is the 2nd most abundant naturally occurring biopolymer after cellulose and can be extracted from seafood waste. 

5) Rothes CORDe: a biomass-powered Combined Heat and Power (CHP) plant. It produces electricity from a combination of whisky distillery by-products and wood chips optimising by-products from the food and drink sector.

6) BINN Group: evolved from a landfill-based company to one primarily involved in the collection and sorting of commercial and industrial waste.