Scottish deposit return delayed until October 2025

The deposit return scheme in Scotland is to be delayed until October 2025 at the earliest.

The flagship recycling scheme was supposed to launch in March next year.

But Circular Economy Minister Lorna Slater said she had been left with no choice after the UK government excluded glass from the Scottish scheme.

She said she remained committed to introducing the recycling scheme - although it will be more limited than originally intended.

The delay means that the Scottish scheme is likely to launch at the same time as similar proposals for other parts of the UK - as many retailers and drinks companies had been calling for.

When it is finally introduced, the deposit return scheme (DRS) will see a 20p charge placed on drinks containers which would be refunded to consumers when they return the bottles and cans in a bid to increase recycling levels.

• What is Scotland's deposit return scheme?

Larger stores, shopping centres and community hubs will operate reverse vending machines for people to return their containers.

Ms Slater said: "The overwhelming feedback from producers, retailers and hospitality is that they cannot prepare for a March launch based on the changes being required by the UK government without any certainty even about what those changes would be".

She added: "As of today, it is now clear that we have been left with no other option than to delay the launch of Scotland's DRS until October 2025 at the earliest based on the UK government's current stated aspirations.

"I remain committed to interoperable DRS schemes across the UK provided that we can work in a spirit of collaboration not imposition.

"Scotland will have a deposit return scheme. It will come later than need be. It will be more limited than it should be and more limited than parliament voted for".

Ms Slater is a co-leader of the Scottish Greens, and has a ministerial post under her party's power sharing agreement with the SNP in the Scottish Parliament.

Kat Jones, director of Action to Protect Rural Scotland, which has campaigned for a DRS, said: "This is a bleak day for anyone who cares about Scotland's litter crisis, or indeed the global climate crisis."

She also raised doubts about whether the UK government will be able to introduce a DRS for England by October 2025 - describing that date as being "at best provisional".

The scheme is now likely to launch at the same time as similar proposals for other parts of the UK

The UK government approved a partial exemption to the Internal Market Act for the Scottish deposit scheme last week, but said glass bottles would need to be excluded.

It said this was to bring Scotland into line with similar schemes that are due to launch in England and Northern Ireland in October 2025, which will also not include glass.

The exemption means that the Scottish deposit return scheme would only be allowed to cover PET plastic, aluminium and steel cans.

Glass is still included in proposals for a Welsh scheme, with the Welsh government having not yet asked for an exemption.

Circularity Scotland, the company set up to run the Scottish DRS, said there was no reason why it could not launch in March 2024 without including glass and that it was "disappointed" by Ms Slater's announcement.

Its chief executive, David Harris, said: "Further delaying the introduction of DRS will hinder Scotland's progress towards net zero and mean that billions of drinks containers continue to end up as waste."The board of Circularity Scotland will now consider the impact of this announcement and our immediate priority will be communicating with our people. We will provide further updates in due course."

Several major retailers and drinks companies, including Tesco and Tennents, had already called for Scotland to join a UK-wide initiative rather than introduce its own scheme a year earlier than everyone else.

'Breathing space'

The Federation of Small Businesses said the announcement was the "final admission that Scotland's deposit return scheme has met its inevitable demise".

Its Scotland policy chairman, Andrew McRae, said: "The delay until a UK-wide scheme has taken shape will give much-needed breathing space for the small producers and retailers who have spent months wrestling with the implications of DRS for their operations."

The UK government's Scottish secretary, Alister Jack, welcomed the announcement that the Scottish scheme would now start at the same time as the UK government's proposals were introduced.

He added: "Deposit return schemes need to be consistent across the whole of the UK, to provide a simple and effective system for businesses and consumers.

"We will continue to work with the Scottish government, and the other devolved administrations, on a UK-wide deposit return solution."

Ms Slater had to apply for an exemption to the Internal Market Act because of UK government concerns that the Scottish scheme would effectively introduce trade barriers in different parts of the UK if it was introduced first and had different rules to England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The Scottish Licensed Trader's Association has previously likened Ms Slater's approach to "building a 20-storey skyscraper then applying for retrospective planning permission".

Ms Slater revealed last month that businesses in Scotland have spent about £300m preparing for the introduction of the DRS, and there have been suggestions that many could seek compensation from the government now that it will not be introduced until much later than anticipated.

The Scottish Conservatives said the Scottish DRS had "already failed long before any intervention from the UK government" and that a great deal of time and effort could have been saved if the SNP and Greens had listened businesses calling for a UK-wide approach.

Scottish Labour MSP Boyack accused the Scottish and UK governments of being "more interested in a constitutional fight" than making the recycling scheme work, and said Scotland was "paying the price for two bad governments".

The DRS was originally due to launch in Scotland in July of last year but had already been delayed twice amid concern about its implementation from many businesses which would be affected.

We now have confirmation of what was starting to feel inevitable. Scotland's deposit return scheme won't start next March - it will be operating by October 2025 at the earliest.

The logic behind that date is that it's when the UK government wants to have its own scheme.

There's been a long-running argument about glass being excluded from the Scottish scheme. But this, Lorna Slater told MSPs, was just the tip of the iceberg.

She argued that more "sabotage" came via other UK government conditions: such as one administration fee and one logo for the schemes that will (eventually) operate across all of the UK.

But this is about more than how beer bottles, cartons and juice cans are recycled. This is about how devolution works.

Scottish ministers feel that the UK government has thwarted plans to introduce legislation in an area where they have responsibility.

The UK government argues that their approach is sensible. If all UK schemes are to align at a later point, then they say they have to ensure certain conditions are put into place in Scotland now.

Many businesses may be less concerned with who's to blame, and more concerned with the money and time spent preparing for a project that's now been kicked into the long grass.