Conference notes that:

1. The average household in Scotland produces just over 1.1 tonnes of waste per year, figure which is rising by 1.5-2% per year;
2. Packaging accounts for around 17% of the average household food budget, while approximately 500,000 tonnes of packaging is thrown away by Scottish households each year;
3. Under a Liberal Democrat Environment Minister in the previous Scottish Executive, rates of recycling in Scotland more than trebled from 8% in 2002 to nearly 30% in 2007
4. The UK Government’s Waste Strategy, published in May 2007, fails to address the need for constructive changes to the currently ineffective Packaging (Essential Requirements) Regulations, which are applied UK-wide;
5. The UK Government has failed to meet UK-wide targets for packaging reduction set by EU Directive 94/62/EC, adopted in the UK through the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 1997;

Conference notes with concern the need to reduce excess packaging, and welcomes the campaigns of the Women’s Institute and Independent newspaper which have illustrated the broad public consensus that exists over the need to take action.

Conference notes further concern at the Scottish Government's cut of £26 million in the Strategic Waste Fund budget, despite the SNP's manifesto commitment to achieve a 'zero waste Scotland

Conference recognises:

1. That the current Packaging (Essential Requirements) Regulations do not provide an effective basis for Trading Standards Offices to pursue legal proceedings in cases of excessive packaging;
2. That the Courthauld Commitments to reduce excess packaging made by 92% of the UK grocery sector are ineffective, both due to their voluntary nature and because of the lack of a protocol for reporting progress on meeting the targets.

Conference therefore calls for:

1. Requiring supermarkets over 250sqm in size to provide waste points in store, allowing customers to remove and deposit unwanted packaging before leaving the store;
2. The strengthening of the Packaging (Essential Requirements) Regulations, to improve enforcement of excess packaging regulations by Trading Standards offices;
3. Trading Standards offices to be provided with adequate resources to tackle effectively producers of excess packaging;
4. The Scottish Government to make dealing with excess packaging a priority of its new waste strategy.
5. The Scottish Executive to lobby for the introduction of binding packaging reduction targets to be met by producers and retailers, in place of the current voluntary Courthauld commitments.
6. The new Constitutional Commission to consider the potential of devolving further fiscal and legislative powers to Scotland to tackle environmentally damaging behaviour