Deposit return scheme: Scotland's new National Litter Day is a monument to failure – Scotsman comment

Circular economy minister Lorna Slater should have held off implemention of the deposit return scheme until Westminster had agreed to her plan

The inclusion of glass in Scotland's deposit return recycling scheme proved to be a sticking point (Picture: Steve Parsons/PA Wire)

Yesterday could and should have been a momentous day for Scotland – the start of a groundbreaking new deposit return scheme that would have radically transformed the recycling of bottles and cans. Instead, the charity Action to Protect Rural Scotland has suggested that August 16 should now become "National Litter Day”.

The campaign group blamed a “combination of corporate lobbying, Westminster interference and Scottish Government timidity” for the collapse of the scheme, which has been delayed until October 2025. However, they should have also mentioned the Scottish Government’s incompetence.

Westminster blocked the legislation as it would have covered glass as well as plastic bottles and cans on the grounds that recycling schemes “need to be consistent across the whole of the UK”. It plans to introduce its own system, without glass, in 2025.

Circular economy minister Lorna Slater may disagree but she should have realised this was a possibility before spending vast sums of public money and persuading businesses to do likewise. National Litter Day is a monument to failure, a day of disgrace, for Slater and the Scottish Government.