Deposit return scheme on the brink as Alister Jack rejects call for concessions

The Scottish Secretary said the UK Government will not remove conditions placed on the project

Scotland’s controversial deposit return scheme is on the brink of collapse after the Scottish Secretary made clear the UK Government will not remove conditions placed on the project.

Alister Jack said the conditions – one of which would see glass containers removed from the scheme – were necessary to allow it to work across the UK.

First Minister Humza Yousaf previously wrote to Rishi Sunak to demand their removal. He gave the Prime Minister a deadline of Monday, or risk “grave danger” to the Scottish scheme, later saying he “struggles to see it going ahead” with the conditions imposed.

First Minister of Scotland Humza Yousaf tries his hand at hedge trimming during campaigning in Pollok (Pic: Robert Perry/PA Wire)

Asked if Mr Sunak should acquiesce, Mr Jack said: “No. We’ve given the exclusion [to the Internal Market Act]. There are four conditions in that exclusion which allow the scheme to work across the United Kingdom.”

The exemption to the Internal Market Act was required to allow the scheme to run in the absence of others elsewhere in the UK, with other nations expected to set up their own in the coming years. The most controversial of the conditions would see glass stripped from the scheme in Scotland.

Mr Jack said industry figures had asked for this. He said: “I haven’t had a single letter from a business supporting the proposed scheme that (Green minister) Lorna Slater has brought forward, whereas I have had over 1,000 letters of concern, and it’s those concerns that we have taken into account when we’ve come to our conclusion.”

The deposit return scheme would see consumers charged a 20p deposit every time they buy a drink in a can or bottle, with that money then refunded when they return the empty container for recycling. However, its implementation has proved hugely controversial.

Picture: PA

In his letter to the Prime Minister, Mr Yousaf cited concerns raised by C&C Group – one of the country’s biggest brewers and the company behind Tennent’s Lager. He said the firm had been explicit “that the decision by the UK Government to remove glass threatens investment and jobs”.

However, Mr Jack read out a letter he had received from C&C Group which suggested the Scottish Government had misrepresented its position. Quoting from the letter, he said: “Please find enclosed a letter we sent to Humza Yousaf, Scotland's First Minister, setting out our position following last weekend's UK internal market announcement. Regrettably, specific passages from this letter were leaked to the media, misrepresenting C&C Tennent's position on DRS.

"C&C Group/Tennent's is actively seeking and supports a UK-wide scheme introduced at the same time across the four UK nations. A single UK-wide scheme has been our preferred outcome since 2017."

The letter went on to say that the removal of glass would leave the company at a “competitive disadvantage with the rest of the UK” and the firm “cannot therefore support a stand-alone Scottish DRS that excludes glass”.

Some businesses are calling for a delay but campaigners want to see DRS introduced.

The Scottish Secretary said he had spoken to British Glass, which claimed the Scottish scheme will largely be crushing glass to be used as aggregate for roads, but Circularity Scotland – the administrator – disputed that assertion.

A spokesman for the firm said the claims were “totally inaccurate”. He said: “Circularity Scotland has consistently stated that the Scottish Deposit Return Scheme has set a target of 90 per cent for the remelting and reuse of glass from the scheme’s launch, rising to 95 per cent post-launch.

“Any claims to the contrary are totally inaccurate. These claims have seriously jeopardised a £10 million investment in glass recycling planned for Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme.”

Elsewhere, Mr Jack was asked why the English scheme could not simply mirror those in Scotland and Wales, where there are also plans to include glass.

He said: “Wales haven’t asked for an exemption – they have consulted on glass but there’s been no exemption request. Northern Ireland aren’t including glass.

“The situation is that we have a UK Internal Market Act, and that works alongside devolution, that is a protector of devolution. The UK Internal Market Act came after we left the EU, it’s to protect the single market within the UK.”

He added: “So we listened to concerns of businesses and consumers and we decided the Scottish Government can go ahead with their scheme first as long as it dovetails into the other schemes in the UK.”

Mr Yousaf reacted furiously last night.

“The UK Government continues to treat Scotland’s Parliament with utter contempt and Jack’s comments about how the Deposit Return Scheme will deal with glass are intentionally misleading and false,” he said.

“Circularity Scotland has consistently stated that the Scottish Deposit Return Scheme has set a target of 90 per cent for the remelting and reuse of glass from the scheme's launch, rising to 95 per cent post-launch - any claims to the contrary are totally inaccurate.

“The Scotland Office is running out of road with excuses for blocking Scotland’s scheme and has resorted to spreading false statements in the media.

“But the UK Government’s assault on Scotland doesn’t stop with our democracy, it is now extending to our businesses.

“This intervention from the calamitous Scotland Office has put £10 million of investment on the line.

“It’s clear that Alister Jack and his colleagues at the Scotland Office are only focused on disrupting the scheme rather than working collaboratively to find an approach that works for Scottish business.

“The Prime Minister must intervene immediately and take charge of this situation for the UK Government.

“Iconic Scottish brands have stated quite clearly that the removal of glass from a Scottish Deposit Return Scheme places companies at a competitive disadvantage versus UK and global competitors, and that it would have significant consequences for Scottish investment and jobs.

“Scotland is ready to lead the UK on recycling with the Deposit Return Scheme. The consequences of using the Internal Market Act, effectively to rewrite devolved laws passed by the Scottish Parliament, without any democratic accountability or oversight, are huge.”