The UK Government does yet have a programme in place to launch a deposit return scheme (DRS) in 2027, the minister who had been in charge of Scotland’s abandoned initiative has said.
As circular economy minister, Lorna Slater had been spearheading efforts to introduce deposit return to Scotland, in a bid to drive up recycling rates for drinks cans and bottles.
But the Scottish Government last year pulled the plug on it after Westminster refused to allow it to include glass bottles.
A scheme in Scotland will now launch when one is introduced across the UK.
While UK Environment Secretary Steve Barclay has told MPs that 2027 is “probably more likely” for the introduction of a DRS, rather than the initial 2025 date, Ms Slater said the UK Government has “not got a programme to get them there”.
While she accepted businesses in Scotland want to see a UK-wide scheme brought in, allowing it to operate in the same way in all four nations, Ms Slater added delays are “frustrating”.
Under a DRS, shoppers are charged a deposit – which the Scottish Government had planned to set at 20p – every time they buy a drink in a can or bottle, with this money returned to them when the empty containers are returned for recycling.
Ms Slater said: “We’re very committed to a deposit return scheme, we know the benefits it can bring in terms of reducing litter, in terms of reducing waste, reducing burdens on local authorities who currently have to deal with that material.
“We had a system in place ready to go in Scotland, we were weeks from launching, we had all the pieces in place we needed to successfully get started.”
While she accepted there would have been “teething problems” if a DRS had been introduced in Scotland in August 2023 as planned, Ms Slater said Holyrood ministers are now “beholden” to Westminster as to when it can be brought in.
She said: “We’re entirely depending on when they get their scheme going.”
Noting Ireland recently launched a DRS, three years after passing the necessary regulations, she said the UK’s date of 2027 is still “aspirational”.
She raised her concerns in a letter to Mr Barclay last month, and while she has now received a reply from the minister, Ms Slater insisted: “Until the UK Government has its regulations laid before Parliament and passed by Parliament, until they have a scheme administrator created, I think that date is aspirational.
“What businesses asked for when the First Minister and I spoke to them is a UK-wide scheme, which makes sense. I don’t have any issue with that.
“The issue I have is the UK Government keeps delaying and delaying and making the scheme less ambitious by taking glass out of the scheme they want to run. That’s what is frustrating.
“We all want a scheme that works – at least that is what I want. But the UK Government doesn’t seem so sure.”
A UK Government spokesperson said: “We are pushing ahead with our programme of reforms to reduce waste and improve our use of resources, and remain committed to our goal of eliminating avoidable waste by 2050.
“It is essential that we work closely with industry to make sure our reforms will be a success, and we will continue to take their views into account as we proceed with introducing the deposit return scheme.
“Once we have completed negotiations with the Devolved Administrations we will proceed to laying the necessary regulations.”