Now Tories move to back ‘banish the bottles’ drive
THE Scottish Conservatives have dropped their opposition to plans to introduce a bottle deposit return scheme.
Their U-turn comes after the Scottish Daily Mail launched a campaign for a system which would help clean up towns and cities.
Holyrood’s largest opposition party is now willing to consider backing the proposals after ‘substantially increased interest’ in the issue.
An MSP has lodged a motion which indicates Tories could back the scheme if it is ‘well designed’ and meets the needs of firms, councils and the public.
The motion by Maurice Corry, who formerly worked for his family-run soft drinks firm, has won the backing of 22 of the 31 Tory MSPs, including environment spokesman Maurice Golden.
Previously, the Scottish Conservatives were opposed to the scheme, which would see a charge of up to 10p added to all drinks containers, an amount that would be refunded if returned to collection points when empty.
Campaigners last night welcomed the party’s new willingness to consider the scheme, which comes after Coca-Cola last week announced it would now support the introduction of the bottle deposit system.
John Mayhew, director of the Association for the Protection of Rural Scotland, which is running the Have You Got The Bottle? campaign, said: ‘This is a significant and very welcome indication that [the Conservatives’] position is evolving.
‘As their motion says, a deposit system must be designed to work well for the public and small business, and to operate with existing kerbside collections.
‘As more businesses come out in favour of deposits I am confident the consensus across the parties can only continue to grow.’
The motion by Mr Corry notes the ‘substantially increased interest in the issue of deposit return for drinks containers and the campaigns to reduce litter’.
A Scottish Conservative spokesman said: ‘We do believe the Scottish Government should make a decision on this by the summer, to give certainty to retailers and businesses.’
Scottish Tories are due to discuss the matter at an event being held at the party’s spring conference in Glasgow this weekend.
Labour, the Lib Dems and the Greens have all backed the idea, while prominent Nationalist MSPs are known to be supportive. Last month the Mail launched a trailblazing campaign calling for a deposit return scheme to help tackle the blight caused by 130,000 plastic bottles and cans being dumped in streets, beaches and public places every day.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘Such a scheme has the potential to reduce litter and improve recycling, but it is important that all interested parties and stakeholders have the opportunity to express their view on such a significant issue.’