Deposit return scheme in Scotland 'on the brink' as Humza Yousaf appeals to Rishi Sunak

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Humza Yousaf has given his clearest indication yet that a flagship recycling initiative will be scrapped unless there is a last minute u-turn from the UK Government.The First Minister said today he "struggled" to see how the deposit return scheme (DRS) could progress if glass containers were not included.The Scottish Government had planned to introduce the scheme - which would charge customers a returnable deposit for each single-use drinks container they buy - in March next year.But Westminster last month demanded that glass be excluded from the Holyrood plans in order to meet strict UK Internal Market rules.Yousaf wrote to Rishi Sunak last weekend to demand the Prime Minister reconsider the intervention ahead of a meeting of the Scottish Government Cabinet on Tuesday morning.Speaking in Edinburgh, the SNP leader claimed Tory ministers would continue to "frustrate" the implementation of a DRS without glass.He said: "I'm not sure there are many other options there.

If we were to push ahead with a DRS that doesn't include glass, then it would put Scottish business at a competitive disadvantage."We potentially risk jobs and investment.

I would not be confident in the UK Government not throwing other road blocks in the way to do everything they can to frustrate the process and delay the implementation date."We have to consider all of that, and that's why if we don't give the full exemption, I struggle to see how we progress with the DRS."Yousaf added the scheme could be revisited in the future "if circumstances change".But he expressed scepticism that the UK Government's own deposit scheme could be ready by its date of October 2025 as necessary legislation had not been passed by MPs.Green MSP Mark Ruskell had earlier said