OVER 50 million additional empty drinks cans and bottles could be littered across Scotland if the introduction of a deposit return scheme is delayed by a year, campaigners have claimed.
Ministers have announced plans to introduce the scheme from April 2021, but retailers have warned it could be “at least the middle of 2022” before shops have the necessary infrastructure in place.
Ewan MacDonald-Russell, of the Scottish Retail Consortium, said that would be the earliest it could happen if there was “an absolute push and a huge focus”.
Environmental groups fear any delay will lead to millions more drinks cans and bottles being dumped, along with thousands of tonnes of additional carbon emissions.
Every month’s delay to Scotland’s deposit system would see more than 4.25 million extra cans and bottles littered in Scotland, research for the Have You Got The Bottle? campaign estimated.
The Scottish Government’s own figures show that each month the introduction of the scheme is delayed will lead to 4000 tonnes of carbon emissions and cost Scottish local authorities more than £600,000.
Ministers plan for Scotland to become the first part of the UK to bring in a deposit return scheme, with shoppers paying a 20p surcharge when buying drinks in a plastic or glass bottle or a metal can, and getting their money back when returning them for recycling.
John Mayhew, director of the Association for the Protection of Rural Scotland, which has been leading the Have You Got The Bottle? campaign, said some businesses were continuing “to drag their feet”.
He said: “Scots have waited more than a decade for a deposit return system and if big business forces further delays that would be a major blow for our environmental ambitions and for local taxpayers.
“It is more than two years since the First Minister announced that deposits were coming and yet still some parts of industry continue to drag their feet and complain about having to meet these very basic responsibilities. We know that Lithuania got a deposit return system up and running in six months, yet some in industry think Scotland won’t be capable of introducing deposits until 2022 or even later.”
Sam Chetan-Welsh, political adviser for Greenpeace UK, said deposit return schemes could work to “significantly boost recycling rates”, adding that they “work best when they’re all-in, covering all sizes and materials”.
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “We continue to make progress with plans to implement our deposit return scheme as part of our response to the global climate emergency. We want to see a scheme that is ambitious and effective, and are working with industry on all aspects of implementation, including timescales for delivery.”
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