The Scottish government has revealed the rollout of the UK’s first deposit return scheme (DRS) will be delayed until August 2023.
The announcement, due to have been rolled out from July next year, was given a cautious welcome by retailers, although they warned even that delay would still pose huge challenges.
The delay has been widely expected after the government launched a review into the financial and logistical impact caused by Covid.
Some sources said the delay would increase the chances of a joined-up system across the UK, although The Grocer understands ministers in Scotland are keen to press ahead without waiting for Westminster to finalise its plans.
“This announcement provides welcome certainty for retailers who can now fully commit to delivering Scotland’s ambitious deposit return scheme in August 2023,” said Scottish Retail Consortium head of policy Ewan MacDonald-Russell.
“It has been clear for some time that despite the significant investment made by retailers to prepare for the scheme, there was no realistic chance they could accommodate the impact of the Covid pandemic, never mind the further challenges presented by EU exit and the UK government decision to apply VAT to the 20p deposit that customers will face.
“With clarity over the date, retailers, producers and all other stakeholders will now focus their efforts on making the Scottish deposit return scheme a success.”
Scottish NFRN president Ferhan Ashiq added: “After several false starts and delays, the NFRN welcomes the certainty today’s announcement from the government brings.
“Now we have confirmation of a start date, retailers and Circulatory Scotland, the scheme administrator, can begin to work out what this will mean for their stores and how DRS will be incorporated into their offer to customers.
“There is much to be done, but we can now start to focus on delivering a scheme that will work for all retailers – large and small – and achieve its aim of increasing the availability of high-quality recycled plastic, metal and glass and decreasing the number of these items being discarded as litter.”
The delay in Scotland comes despite some retailers having launched trials of DRS in the country.
Last month Aldi launched its first DRS, giving shoppers a 10p voucher for every bottle or can dropped in a reverse vending machine, in the car park of its Bathgate store in West Lothian.
Lidl is also trialling its own DRS in Scotland, having introduced reverse vending machines at a number of stores earlier this year.
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