Apr 19th, 2023
2 mins
First minister Humza Yousaf has announced that Scotland’s deposit return scheme (DRS) for drinks containers has been delayed to 1st March 2024. It was originally due to start on 16th August, but following concerns over the launch date he took the decision to delay giving, as he explained to Scottish Parliament, 7 extra months for the smaller firms to prepare.
He told MSPs: “I’m committed to the scheme to increase recycling and help achieve our net zero goals but recognise the uncertainty created by the UK Government delaying a decision on the Internal Market Act”.
Scotland has been preparing a DRS for several years and had originally intended to launch by 2021. The scheme would charge a 20p deposit on all drink’s containers. This would be refunded when the empty container was deposited for recycling or reuse through an official channel, such as in-store or to a dedicated reverse vending machine.
Scotland’s scheme is classed as ‘all-in’ scheme rather than ‘on-the-go’ which means a much wider range of packaging falls into scope. Whereas in the UK is pushing for a scheme which in less encompassing and even excludes glass.
