This has been superseded by the UK Deposit Return Scheme (DRS), which is set to be implemented across all nations.
Scottish DRS now due October 2025
With an original go-live date of July 2022, the Scottish government has been keen to press ahead with a Deposit Return Scheme well before the rest of the UK. However the implementation of the scheme has hit a number of set backs, including the Covid pandemic, a failure to set in stone the materials to be included.
The last set back was announced by the first minister for Scotland, Humza Yousaf in his April 2023 speech where he notified attendees of a delay until March 2024.
In recent months there have been various discussions and disagreements between Holyrood and Westminster. Westminster seeking glass to be excluded so that a consistent UK-wide approach can be taken. On 7th June 2023 these disagreements lead to a further delay in the implementation of the DRS until October 2025, which brings it into line with plans in other areas of the UK.
Lorna Slater, Green Party minister in charge of implementing DRS, said: “I told parliament yesterday that our scheme cannot proceed as planned. The refusal of the UK government alone to budge on glass makes that obvious. 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.”
