Scottish Grocers’ Federation has reaffirmed its commitment to a fit-for-purpose deposit return scheme (DRS) for consumers and small retailers, but says the present scheme fails to provide this.
SGF’s comments follow the recent DRS parliamentary statement by the Minister for Circular Economy Lorna Slater, which it says “does not appear to recognise the critical business viability issues that the many of the unresolved operational aspects of the scheme are presenting to small business and the convenience retailers who will be return point operators”.
In addition, the publication by the scheme administrator Circularity Scotland Limited (CSL) of the ‘Deposit-return Scheme-blueprint-for-retailers-and-hospitality providers’ has “significantly changed the payment terms for all return point operators (RPOs) in Scotland without sufficient notice”.
SGF says this will “mean that many businesses will face the scenario of being in financial distress while waiting for significant sums of money back from CSL”.
SGF chief executive, Dr Pete Cheema, said: “We have met extensively, for over 18 months, with both Circularity Scotland the scheme administrator, and the Scottish government with a view to securing the guidance, clarity and support needed, to allow us to help our members successfully play their part in the scheme. To date however, there is still uncertainty around key aspects of the scheme and there is the real risk of thousands of stores closing due to cash flow issues or significant loss of footfall.”
SGF sent a paper to Slater on 27 February setting out, in detail, over 40 outstanding issues around the scheme which still require to be addressed and have asked for a response within 14 days.
