The deployment of the Scottish deposit return scheme (DRS) has been dealt another blow, as the Scottish First Minister, Humza Yousaf has announced that the scheme will be delayed until March 2024. The scheme, which was designed to reduce littering and increase recycling rates, would involve placing a 20p deposit on all single-use drinks bottles and cans, which will be passed onto the consumer who can claim the deposit back once the drinks container has been returned to the designated collection point.
The scheme was planned for years and set in the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009 and the Deposit and Return Scheme for Scotland Regulations SSI 2020/154, has already faced a few setbacks, including delays, the high costs of the adaptation that producers had to face and the lack of necessary infrastructure. Legal issues have also been discovered, including a possible trade barrier that this scheme could create with the rest of the UK - which currently has no DRS in place.
The provisions for DRS in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are set out in the Environment Act 2021 and the UK government is still in the preparation stages on how this scheme should work. The UK government's consultation, which ran from 24 March 2021 until 4 June 2021, has only recently received the government's response, which proposes that the DRS in England, Wales and Northern Ireland is to launch on 1 October 2025 at the earliest.
Mr Yousaf blamed the UK government's lack of action to resolve the legality of the DRS in Scotland, saying: "We recognise the uncertainty that continues to be created as a result of the UK government delaying the decision to exclude the scheme from the Internal Market Act. We had hoped for that decision this week - but it has not come."
He also added that the Scottish Circular Economy minister Lorna Slater, had heard the concerns of businesses over the readiness of the DRS for launch this August and added: "As a result, we will now delay the launch of the scheme to the 1st of March 2024. This provides 10 months for businesses to get ready."
Additionally, according to the First Minister, a package of measures to "simplify and de-risk" the scheme will be put in place, which will be provided in due course.
