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CHAPTER 2: THE CONSULTATION PROCESS
2.1 THE CONSULTATION
In order to meet the aim of stabilising growth in municipal waste by 2010, the Scottish Executive and SEPA are developing a Waste Prevention Action Plan for Scotland. A Waste Prevention Expert Group has been established to advise. The membership of this group is as follows:
- Scottish Executive (Chair)
- SEPA (Secretariat)
- CBI Scotland
- Waste and Resources Action Programme ( WRAP)
- Scottish Retail Consortium
- Scottish Consumer Council
- Scottish Waste Awareness Group
- Community Recycling Network for Scotland
- Convention of Scottish Local Authorities ( CoSLA)
- Scottish Environmental Services Association
- Department for the Environment and Rural Affairs ( DEFRA)
- Scottish Environment Link
The consultation document - Preventing Household waste in Scotland - was issued on 6 February 2006 in order to obtain views on areas where attention should be focused, work can be targeted and results produced. The closing date was 28 April 2006. In total 170 responses were received, providing a wide range of views and information for consideration
2.2 NATURE OF THE CONSULTATION
The consultation document (Appendix 1) set out the background to the consultation, highlighted the key aspects for consideration and posed 42 questions to which respondents were invited to respond - some of these offered options while others invited open responses. The document was split into 5 main sections; product designers and manufacturers, retailers, consumers, communities and local authorities.
The consultation document was issued by e-mail to a wide range of key stakeholders and trade press. The consultation paper was also available via the Scottish Executive website, and other individuals with an interest in this area were welcome to provide their views to any or all of the questions posed. A reminder e-mail was sent to consultees 10 days before the closing date of the consultation.
Respondents were invited to respond freely to each question in the consultation document. Some respondents answered each question while others chose to comment on a limited number of questions. Most chose to follow the question structure, although a small number provided comments in a free-flowing format.
In addition to the Consultation Document a consultation meeting was held in Glasgow on 6 th March, and was attended by 33 people. This gave stakeholders the opportunity to ask questions of the consultation team, face to face, and to gather more in depth responses to particular issues. The points raised at this consultation meeting are included in this report, under the appropriate heading.
A third area of activity was a series of focus group meetings managed by the Scottish Waste Awareness Group ( SWAG). Focus groups are carefully planned discussions designed to obtain perceptions on a defined area of interest in a permissive, non-threatening environment. These produce qualitative data that provides insights in to the attitudes, perceptions and opinions of participants. Focus groups involve the introduction of a selected series of topics by a skilled interviewer (moderator) to a group of six to eight members.
Four discussion groups took place between March and April 2006 with members of the public to seek their views and opinions on preventing household waste in Scotland. Each group lasted for a period of between one and one and a half hours commencing at 7.00pm and included refreshments.
The groups took place in the following locations;
- Glasgow 7 th March 2006;
- Edinburgh 14 th March 2006;
- Stirling 21 st March 2006;
- Fife 18 th April 2006.
All groups were moderated by Dr Nicki Souter. Upon completion of the groups each member received a £20 gift voucher.
The discussions were transcribed, and subsequently analysed, and the main findings included in this consultation analysis report under the appropriate heading.
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