Green minister Lorna Slater has warned producers who fail to sign up the Scottish Government’s controversial deposit return scheme (DRS) could be banned from selling products in bottles and cans in Scotland.
Speaking on Good Morning Scotland, the Circular Economy Minister urged companies to sign up to the scheme as a midnight deadline approaches.
She added “no-one with any credibility” would delay Scotland’s deposit return scheme even after two SNP leadership candidates said it should be paused.
Yesterday SNP leadership candidate Kate Forbes warned the scheme could cause “economic carnage” during a visit to the Cairngorm Brewery in Aviemore on Monday.
The future of the scheme – which is due to go live in August – is faced with uncertainty after all three SNP candidates have called for changes.
The Scottish Greens co-leader said businesses would need to sign up to the scheme with its administrator Circularity Scotland and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa).
What are the consequences?
She said: “Companies that don’t sign up to the scheme and that are not registered with Circularity Scotland and with Sepa, in principle, would not be able to sell into the Scottish market.
“What we have committed to all along is we will take a pragmatic approach.
“So some small businesses for example that feel they are not able to fully register with the scheme or need a bit of help to make sure they are fully compliant, Sepa and Circularity Scotland have agreed they will provide that support.
“But the first thing businesses need to do is get themselves registered with the scheme and then we can help them.”
She insisted it would be a “kick in the teeth” to businesses who support the scheme but also said smaller drinks producers would get support to successfully take part in the scheme.
The deadline is for companies who produce bottles and cans that are subject to the scheme managed by Circularity Scotland.
She said businesses including large drinks producers and retailers that will collect bottles have invested “hundreds of millions of pounds” in the plan.
The bottle return scheme has become a significant battleground in the SNP fight for the role of next First Minister after Nicole Sturgeon announced she was stepping down.
Two out of three candidates for the role, Kate Forbes and Ash Regan, have said they will delay the implementation of the scheme.
“Tonight at midnight is the deadline for them to register and registration is open right until midnight and I would urge producers to get registration for the scheme in if they haven’t already,” she explained.
She added: “No-one with any credibility to support business in Scotland would delay the scheme any further because those businesses that have made that substantial investment, those shops that have got their planning permission for their reverse vending machines, they don’t get their return on that investment until those 20 pences start flowing.
“No-one with any credibility would delay that. The question on the table and the sensible question is what small producers can do to become compliant with the scheme, we’ve been working very closely with small producers, we’ve got an extra £22 million of cash on the table, cash flow support for them last week, we’ve got support for labelling, we’re working through the issues.
“One of the requests on the table from small producers is that grace period and that’s exactly what we’re working on to see how that would work with the scheme, bring those producers into the scheme at the time that works for them.”
What is the DRS?
New laws coming into force on August 16 mean consumers will have to pay an extra 20p when they buy drinks in single-use containers.
They can then earn that money back by returning their empty can, bottle or glass to vending machines which will be placed across Scotland.
The aim of the scheme is to improve recycling north of the border. All firms who sell drinks in containers covered under the policy will have to comply.
Circularity Scotland, the industry-backed administrator of the scheme, recently revealed a £22 million support package to help business owners adapt.
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