IAIN GULLAND
Circular Economy & Sustainability Leader | Non-Executive Director | Board Adviser
Iain is an internationally recognised leader in the circular economy and sustainable resource management, with more than 30 years of experience across the public, not-for-profit and governmental sectors. He is best known as the founding Chief Executive of Zero Waste Scotland, where he conceived, established and grew the organisation from an independent not-for-profit into a Non-Departmental Public Body, embedding strong governance, delivering successive corporate plans and positioning the organisation as a central delivery partner in Scotland’s transition to a low-carbon, circular economy.
Under his leadership, Zero Waste Scotland designed and administered a suite of high-impact national funding programmes, including the £18 million Circular Economy Investment Fund, the £3 million Waste Prevention Implementation Fund and the £70 million Recycling Improvement Fund. These instruments supported hundreds of businesses and local authorities to adopt more circular practices, reduce waste and carbon emissions, and generate significant economic value. He also led the creation of the Resource Efficiency Service (now Business Energy Scotland), providing a “one-stop shop” for Scottish businesses to cut material and energy use, thus delivering major cost savings.
Iain has played a pivotal role in shaping Scotland’s legislative and policy framework, contributing to the Waste (Scotland) Regulations 2012, the Circular Economy (Scotland) Act 2024, and the Circular Economy and Waste Route Map to 2030. He also championed evidence-based policymaking through the development of Scotland’s first Material Flow Accounts and Circularity Gap Report, now key national benchmarks.
Internationally, as President of ACR+, he led a major European network supporting cities and regions in circular economy transitions, as well as strengthening collaboration with the European Commission.
Alongside resource and waste policy, Iain oversaw Zero Waste Scotland’s expanding role in Clean Heat as part of the wider Heat in Buildings policy area. This included strategic oversight of programmes supporting low-carbon heating, heat decarbonisation and energy efficiency, ensuring strong alignment between circular economy principles, carbon reduction objectives and Scotland’s just transition to net zero. This integrated approach strengthened the organisation’s contribution to national climate policy and reinforced the importance of whole-system thinking across materials, energy and infrastructure.