Circular Economy Minister Lorna Slater is now seeking an “urgent discussion” with the UK government in an attempt to find a way forward.
Slater told the Scottish Parliament: “It is clear that Scotland’s deposit return scheme, in the scope and form passed by this parliament, cannot go ahead as currently planned.
“Over the last 10 days, and right now, we are urgently establishing to what extent there is a way forward for a modified scheme, its scope, terms and timescales.
“That crucially depends on whether the UK government can provide timely, stable and reliable assurances on basic operational matters, such as trading standards, the 20p deposit and producer fees.
“It also depends on to what extent there is industry support for an alternative scheme.”
Slater said she and First Minister Humza Yousaf would be meeting with industry representatives today (7 June) to discuss “whether it is feasible” to go ahead with an alternative scheme without glass.
She added: “The UK is not acting with good faith here to support Scotland’s scheme going forward and is in fact doing everything possible to undermine it.
“Now, myself and Circularity Scotland are looking at how we can take an alternative scheme forward in Scotland, because the one that this parliament passed has been shot down by Westminster.
“We are looking at an alternative scheme and I will report back to parliament as soon as I possibly can on what that alternative may be.”
Earlier this week Michael Topham, Chief Executive of Biffa – the company selected as logistics partner of DRS, told Yousaf in a letter seen by SLR: “I strongly believe that the best course of action at this stage is to proceed without further delay, enabling Scotland to deliver this ground-breaking environmental solution as soon as possible and substantially earlier than the rest of the UK.
“Any decision to cancel or significantly delay the scheme beyond March 2024 sends a seismic detrimental signal to all those businesses that are in principle willing to commit resources into helping the Scottish government deliver on its ambitions, completely undermining its position as a legislator that can be relied upon.”
