Humza Yousaf has confirmed smaller drinks producers will temporarily be exempt from the controversial deposit return scheme if he wins the race to become first minister.
The frontrunner to succeed Nicola Sturgeon still backs the under-fire recycling initiative, but said the priority should be targeting major corporations who harm the environment.
The future of the scheme – which is due to go live in August – is already faced with uncertainty after Mr Yousaf’s SNP leadership rival Kate Forbes warned it should be paused.
Business chiefs in the north and north-east warned a one-year delay should not just be used to “kick problems down the road”.
Mr Yousaf told the Press and Journal he would be keen to meet with them if he wins the contest to become first minister.
When the deposit scheme comes into force, consumers will have to pay an extra 20p when they buy drinks in single-use containers.
They then earn their money back by taking their empty can, glass or bottle to vending machines placed around the country.
But smaller companies have repeatedly claimed the new law will hurt them by increasing costs when they are already being financially squeezed.
SNP rebel Fergus Ewing sensationally warned Nicola Sturgeon the scheme could descend into a “catastrophe” during an extraordinary Holyrood intervention.
The Inverness and Nairn MSP said: “Unless halted now, this scheme – which most businesses believe to be fatally flawed – will damage the reputation of Scotland as a place to do business.”
‘Listened to business’
Asked whether more could have been done to reassure firms, Mr Yousaf told us: “It’s fair to say, with hindsight, there’s absolutely more we could always look to do to reassure smaller businesses who have been telling us about these challenges for a number of weeks now.”
Speaking after a visit to Aberdeen, he added: “I’ll make sure I directly meet with them so I can deal with them and engage with them directly, because I think that’s the best way to hear about their concerns.”
Earlier he said the policy remained an “important scheme”, but said he had “listened to business” about their concerns.
The health secretary said: “If I’m elected first minister then I will exclude small businesses for the first year of operation of that scheme.
“Because it’s not the craft breweries, or craft gin makers, that are the ones causing the issues. It’s the big producers that are the ones that we should be targeting.”
Nigel Tiddy, who runs Windswept Brewing in Lossiemouth, told us: “This would be a very welcome and sensible course of action.
“It is important that this doesn’t just kick the problems down the road and we end up with a scheme that meets clearly thought out environmental objectives without sacrificing small businesses.”
Stuart Ingram, who runs House of Elrick Gin in Newmachar, near Aberdeen, said any change of tack was “too little too late” as he had already decided to stop trading in Scotland.
And Stephen Kemp, who runs a gin distillery in Orkney, said: “It’s disappointing senior ministers like Humza Yousaf now at the 11th hour when it can potentially help their campaign are prepared to accept what the industry has been telling them for months.”
Whisky consultant Blair Bowman, who has led opposition to the environmental project, said a pause would not fix the scheme’s “fundamental flaws”.
Scottish Greens co-leader Lorna Slater, who has been overseeing the initiative, insisted it would still go ahead. But she admitted she was “actively considering” a one-year reprieve for small companies.
Earlier this week Holyrood announced a new £22 million package to help firms struggling with admin costs and registration fees incurred from the scheme.