Scotland's NHS has bought 130 million single-use plastic cups in the last five years despite pledges by ministers to cut down on waste and boost the use of reusable containers.

Figures show health boards north of the Border have spent £1.8m on the items since 2019 including from August 2021 to April this year when with the SNP were in power with the Scottish Greens.

The expense is greater than the amount spent on the cups between 2014 and 2019 (£1.7m) when 180 million were bought by the NHS with the higher costs reflecting rising prices because of inflation.

And while the total number of the items over five year figure has fallen across Scottish health boards, some individual boards bought considerably more of the items this year than they did in 2019.

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For example, 10.4million single use cups were bought by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde in 2023/24 compared to 4.6 million in 2019/2020.

Ministers say a draft Circular Economy and Waste Route Map sets out actions the government needs to take to deliver sustainable use of resources by 2030, and that it includes plans to introduce a charge for single-use disposable cups by 2025 which it will consult on later this year.

The new figures were obtained by the Scottish Conservatives under Freedom of Information legislation and have emerged just weeks after the Herald on Sunday revealed that Scottish ministers quietly dropped national household recycling targets after repeatedly failing to meet them.

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A strategy document, published by the Scottish Government in 2016, set an ambition for 60% of household waste to be recycled annually by 2020.

However, the latest official figures from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), show it was never met and that the percentage actually got worse over the years since the target was set.

The updated strategy document, published in January this year, setting out a route map on waste and recycling to 2030 did not include a target.

There was scope for the Scottish Government to introduce targets in the Circular Economy Bill but to date no new target has been introduced in the "framework" legislation with ministers saying work is underway to consider a new household recycling target and introduce it later on.

SNP ministers have also come under pressure on environment issues in recent months after dropping a climate change target to reduce carbon emissions in Scotland by 75% by 2030, compared to 1990 levels. The move in April sparked anger among Scottish Greens members and precipitated the end of the Bute House Agreement and the exit of the Greens from government.

Responding to the figures showing the NHS continuing to buy high volume of non disposable cups, Scottish Tory shadow environment secretary Maurice Golden accused the Scottish Government of lecturing others without taking concrete action.

“As ever with the SNP, it talks a good game on climate change, but rarely matches it with action. Under its control, health boards are buying millions of disposable cups, costing the taxpayer hundreds of thousands of pounds and damaging the environment in the process," he said.

“This is just one of a long list of environmental failures by the SNP who have recently ditched their emissions and recycling targets. “Sadly, for our NHS and the environment, the SNP are once again asleep at the wheel.”

A spokesman for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said: "Earlier this year, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde confirmed its commitment to sustainability and achieving net zero by officially launching its new five-year Climate Change and Sustainability Strategy.

"The Strategy sets out five key areas of focus, one of which is Waste Management, which takes in a reduction in single-use food containers."

A Scottish Government spokesperson said:  “We are in a climate emergency and are actively intensifying our work to reduce emissions and waste.

“Our draft Circular Economy and Waste Route Map sets out clear actions we need to take to deliver sustainable use of our resources and progress a circular economy in Scotland by 2030, including plans to introduce a charge for single-use disposable cups by 2025 and we will be consulting on these plans later this year.

“We recognise that phasing out of single-use cups in health care settings will be challenging, as it is vital people can access water for their wellbeing. However we want NHS boards to be actively setting out how they can reduce their waste. “