Conservative MSP defends deposit return scheme U-turn on glass

A Scottish Tory MSP has defended the UK government changing its position on a UK-wide recycling scheme, which casts doubt over Scottish plans.

Glass bottles were a key part of Scottish government proposals for the deposit return scheme (DRS).

But UK ministers excluded glass from English and Northern Irish schemes shortly before granting Scotland a key exemption to internal market rules.

Maurice Golden said the UK government had reacted to industry concerns.

The scheme is aimed at increasing the number of single-use drinks bottles and cans that are recycled.

It means 20p will be added to the price of a single-use drinks container, which will be refunded to people who return it to a retailer or hospitality premises that offer single-use products.

But some firms feared it would place extra costs and other burdens on them at a time when they are already struggling.

• Yousaf accuses UK of recycling scheme sabotage

• Scotland could pilot UK-wide deposit return scheme

• Compensation threat if bottle scheme axed - Yousaf

Scotland's scheme is due to start in March while other UK nations will launch similar schemes in 2025.

In order to do this, the Scottish government needed an exemption from the Internal Market Act - legislation introduced after Brexit to ensure smooth trade across the UK.

The UK government granted this on Saturday, but it only covered PET plastic, aluminium and steel cans.

The drinks industry previously shared concerns about the scheme's readiness

Ministers said they wanted to ensure the Scottish scheme "aligned" with plans in other nations.

In a letter to the first minister on Friday night, they said including glass "would have created a potentially permanent divergence from the schemes planned for England and Northern Ireland".

Proposals in Wales however still include glass bottles.

Humza Yousaf accused the UK government of trying to "sabotage" the DRS in Scotland, as businesses had already signed up to and spent money on a scheme including glass.

He said he would have to hold urgent talks with businesses and examine the viability of the Scottish scheme.

Humza Yousaf said UK ministers had "demanded" that glass be exempt from the scheme

In their 2019 manifesto, the UK Conservatives said they wanted a DRS that included glass - something Mr Golden said was "common sense".

On Sunday the MSP said schemes work best "when you're encouraging consistent consumer behaviour".

Speaking to BBC Scotland, he said: "Since the position four years ago what we've seen is that industry has lost support for the scheme in Scotland.

"Consumers are increasingly concerned and ultimately what I'm proposing is that we salvage the scheme. I think from listening to businesses that unfortunately does not include glass at this stage."

He added that Circular Economy Minister Lorna Slater, who has been driving the introduction of the DRS in Scotland, had "turned her back" on a re-melting target.

He said this would lead to glass going into aggregate instead of back into bottles.

However Circularity Scotland, which is in charge of administering the DRS, said this claim was "entirely untrue" as it had its own target for 90% of recycled glass to be used in glass-making.

Lorna Slater said excluding glass was a last minute change of the goal posts

Meanwhile Mr Golden said the scheme in Wales still included glass because the Welsh government had not applied for any exemption to start the DRS ahead of 2025.

Ms Slater told the BBC's Sunday Politics show UK's position would also have implications for the Welsh plans.

She said: "Rishi Sunak, Alistair Jack even Douglas Ross all stood for election in 2019 on a manifesto that promised a deposit return scheme with glass. Now they have decided to remove glass from England's scheme alone, which is a change from what we had all agreed as four nations.

"Wales has yet to pass their regulations and I feel that it is likely that they would come up against exactly the same issues we've had.

"We have been working very well with the UK government all this time. This is a bit of a shock for them to suddenly move the goal posts on us at the last minute."

The British Soft Drinks Association (BSDA) has said the "only viable option now" was for a UK-wide initiative to be launched across all four nations in 2025.

The deposit return scheme is the latest policy which sees the Scottish and UK governments butting heads.

For people not involved in day-to-day politics, it's perhaps hard to understand why it functions so easily in, say, Germany - but yet seems impossible to work in Scotland.

Cross-border trade is the issue - and there being no blocks to that.

DRS can go ahead - but without glass, say UK ministers.

The Conservative MSP Maurice Golden said in 2019 that including glass was "common sense", but industry's now turned its back on that.

England and Northern Ireland won't be including glass in 2025 - Wales want to but Mr Golden told me they've not asked for an exemption request from the UK government.

It maybe now sounds like if they do, they won't get it.

If you're drinking from the pro-independence bottle you're probably frustrated by the UK government and think Scotland should go it alone.

If it's the pro-union bottle, you probably think a UK-wide scheme is much more sensible.

It all comes down to your favourite tipple.