Ministers told to step up to the plate over Scotland's environment

And it has said that Scotland can move into a post-Covid economic recovery by going green, acting ethically and helping to save the planet from climate change while protecting Scotland's world-renowned landscape and species.

It believes Scotland has the opportunity to become a "circular economy" which makes manufacturers responsible for what happens to the goods they produce, reducing waste to curb the disposable society and protect our environment.

A wide-ranging survey carried out for SEL shows some three in four agree that the government should wherever possible only allow materials that are practicably and safely recycled to be sold in Scotland.

Some 87% agreed with the statement that "in Scotland we should use raw materials more wisely and waste less".

People also think that the Government should take an active role in the reduction of our demands on raw materials with over three in four agreeing with the statement that it should "introduce a target and a plan on how to reduce the amount of raw materials used".

The Scottish government has set itself a legally-binding target to cut greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2045, five years ahead of the date set for the UK as a whole.

But experts say to manage this it is vital we cut the energy required for domestic space and hot-water heating to a minimum and use only zero-carbon sources.

Phoebe Cochrane, circular economy lead for SEL said: “The Scottish government must ensure we put the circular economy at the heart of our post COVID-19 recovery measures rather than supporting practices that lock us into a linear, polluting and unsustainable economy.

"The results from the survey today clearly show that the Scottish public is keen to see the government and businesses step up to the plate and implement practices that minimise waste and are good for us and the long-term health of our planet.”

Eighty percent of respondents supported a ban on all environmentally harmful single-use items where there are practical re-usable alternatives.

People also think that businesses should be more responsible, with 90% agreeing they should have a responsibility for the environmental impact of their products. While 83% agree that supermarkets should report publicly on their waste and 77% believed they should also report publicly on the waste from their supply chains.

It comes as part of the SEL's Fight for Scotland's Nature campaign which is seeking the Scottish Government to produce stronger policies to protect our environment as Brexit is concluded.

Among their concerns has been a method to replace the European Commission's LIFE-Nature Fund which has given £25 million over 25 years to Scotland to help with more than 25 vital conservation projects protecting the country's at-risk wildlife and landscape.

They previously warned the losers would include a bid to stop Scotland's red squirrels from becoming extinct, as well as moves to protect the hen harrier, harbour porpoise and the corncrake, one of Scotland's rarest birds.

LIFE has also helped preserve some of Scotland's treasured landscape because of their European importance.

Receiving support was the restoration of the Flow Country peatlands in Caithness, one of the last great wildernesses in the UK and the preservation of primeval Celtic rainforest, the native Caledonian pinewoods and Scotland's coastal meadows, called machair.

The 2019 Global Resource Outlook shows that extracting and processing raw materials from fossil fuels and mining to food and biofuels is responsible for half the world’s carbon emissions and 80% of biodiversity loss.

The consumption of natural resources, which has tripled since the 1970’s, is set to further double by 2060.

SEL said: "We are consuming far more than our fair share and if everyone lived like us, we would need about three Earths to sustain ourselves, according to ecological footprint data."

The coalition urged government to "be bold" in supporting a circular economy as part of the recovery saying: "The public want a less wasteful economy with lighter demands on the planet; where products are easy to repair and businesses are responsible.

"Prior to the recent abrupt downturn in economic activity, our economy was eating its way through the world’s natural resources at a rate that was both environmentally unsustainable and undesirable from an economic resilience point of view.

Currently our economy is wasteful – we generally grow or extract raw materials, make products, use them and then, at the end of their life, discard them. We need to re-programme our economy to extract less from the planet, reuse what we’ve already taken and reduce our waste.

"People are frustrated with the way that products are made and how it is often difficult and costly to get things repaired."

Their survey, carried out by Survation showed that 91% agreed that when possible, products should be made so that they are easy to repair and their components can be re-used.

They also think that everyone having access to repair services is important and the Government should be proactive, with 91% agreeing that ministers should make sure that people have access to repair and re-use services as well as recycling services.

And 87% agree ministers should use available powers to encourage companies to make products sold in Scotland repairable and re-useable.

Matthew Crighton, convener of SEL's economics group said: “The coronavirus crisis has brought into sharp focus, for us all, the importance of our natural environment and how much we depend on it for our wellbeing. A move towards a circular economy is pivotal in meeting our climate change obligations and ensuring a resilient economy for the greater good."

Trade unionists are also suggesing that a new "industrial revolution" can go green with the help of a new Future Jobs Fund to help the unemployed and a publicly owned ethical construction company.

The Scottish Trades Union Congress has revealed it wants to see the fund back a construction and "deep" retrofit housing programme, to make existing homes more environmentally friendly, while creating "good quality" jobs and driving decarbonisation of heat, reducing emissions and fuel bills.