UK has no plan for DRS, says Slater

The UK Government does yet have a programme in place to launch a deposit return scheme (DRS) in 2027, the minister who had been in charge of Scotland's abandoned initiative has said.

As circular economy minister, Lorna Slater had been spearheading efforts to introduce deposit return to Scotland, in a bid to drive up recycling rates for drinks cans and bottles. But the Scottish Government last year pulled the plug on it after Westminster refused to allow it to include glass bottles.

A scheme in Scotland will now launch when one is introduced across the UK.

While UK Environment Secretary Steve Barclay has told MPS that 2027 is “probably more likely” for the introduction of a DRS, rather than the initial 2025 date, Ms Slater said the UK Government has “not got a programme to get them ther”.

While she accepted businesses in Scotland want to see a Uk-wide scheme brought in, allowing it to operate in the same way in all four nations, Ms Slater added delays are “frustrating”.

Under a DRS, shoppers are charged a deposit – which the Scottish Government had planned to set at 20p – every time they buy a drink in a can or bottle, with this money returned to them when the empty containers are returned for recycling.

Ms Slater said: “"We had a system in place ready to go in Scotland, we were weeks from launching, we had all the pieces in place we needed to successfully get started.” While she accepted there would have been “teething problems” if a DRS had been introduced in Scotland in August 2023 as planned, Ms Slater said Holyrood ministers are now “beholden” to Westminster as to when it can be brought in.

Noting Ireland recently launched a DRS, she said the UK'S date of 2027 was still “aspirational”.