Bottle deposit scheme to launch next year

More than 1,000 cans and bottles have been dumped outside the Scottish Parliament to mark one year until the launch of the deposit return system.

The new scheme, which comes into effect on July 1 2022, will see shoppers pay an additional charge when buying drinks in cans or bottles.

However, they will be able to get this fee refunded when they return their empties for recycling.

The Association for the Protection of Rural Scotland (APRS) and the Marine Conservation Society brought 1,085 cans and bottles to Holyrood yesterday morning to represent the amount of litter the scheme will eliminate every day, per MSP, once it comes into effect.

John Mayhew, director of APRS, said: “It’s wonderful to know it’s finally just a year to go until deposit return on cans and bottles across Scotland comes into effect.

“MSPs across parliament should be very proud of the work they did in getting us to this stage, and we know the public are right behind it too.

“Going by our experiences visiting places that have deposit return, like Estonia and Norway, people across Scotland will very quickly find that littered drinks cans and bottles have become a thing of the past.

“It’s been a long time coming, and it’ll all be worth it!”

Hannah McVicar of APRS at Holyrood.