Current status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 17 December 2024
To ask the Scottish Government whether it is still committed to implementing a Deposit Return Scheme in Scotland by October 2027, in light of the reported announcement by the Welsh Government that it will no longer seek to participate in the planned UK-wide approach to this scheme.
The UK Government’s decision to remove glass from its own scheme and refusal to agree a full Internal Market Act exclusion for Scotland’s own scheme meant we were left with no choice but to delay our scheme last year.
Scotland’s scheme would have been operational in 2024 and would already be improving our recycling rates, however, the Internal Market Act prevented us from moving forward with a deposit return scheme as intended.
Urgent action is needed from the UK Government to repeal the Internal Market Act and restore the full powers of devolved Parliaments.
Until then, the UK scheme remains the only practical option available to Scotland. The Scottish Government is committed to seeing it delivered by October 2027 and will continue to work to that end. We opened applications for a DRS scheme administrator alongside England and Northern Ireland at the start of December.