Scottish Government has pushed back the implementation of its deposit return scheme (DRS) for drinks containers from 2021 to 2022.
Final regulations for Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme have now been laid in the Scottish Parliament by Scotland’s Environment Secretary, Roseanna Cunningham.
These confirm the scheme’s go-live date will be 1 July 2022, giving retailers and producers “time to prepare for a successful scheme from day one”, Ms Cunningham said.
Ms Cunningham also said that the decision to delay was in response to feedback from stakeholders.
She said: “This will give businesses more time to prepare their premises for the scheme and crucially, provides flexibility in the immediate term as the whole country prepares to deal with Covid-19 – the impact of which continues to be closely monitored.”
This will give businesses more time to prepare their premises for the scheme and crucially, provides flexibility in the immediate term as the whole country prepares to deal with Covid-19 – the impact of which continues to be closely monitored
The delay comes after criticism from the Scottish Environment Services Association (SESA). SESA’s policy advisor, Stephen Freeland, said in September last year (2019) that to build a DRS from scratch for April 2021 remains “incredibly ambitious”.
He said: “This creates significant uncertainty on what infrastructure is needed where, while also impacting on investment decisions for kerbside collections.”
The final regulations maintain the ambitious approach to materials, with glass included alongside PET plastic, aluminium and steel.
The scheme will also be as accessible as possible, with more 17,000 return points across the country.
The Regulations will now lie before the Scottish Parliament for fifty-four days to allow a further period of scrutiny. There will then be a vote on the Regulations in the Scottish Parliament.
This is the final step in the Parliamentary process after which the scheme will become law.