Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity submission of 23 May 2023 PE2023/A: Stop the Deposit Return Scheme I am writing to provide the Citizen Participations and Public Petitions Committee with a response to Petition PE2023 which calls on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to stop the introduction of the 20p deposit for consumers and the rollout of the Deposit Return Scheme, referring specifically to the following: • Introducing the Deposit Return Scheme will, in my view, increase the cost to the consumer, either through increasing the cost of the product or as a result of Scottish Government payments to retailers or producers, that are funded by the taxpayer. • 50% of containers are recycled, and to get that to 90% the Scottish Government should deal with those who don’t recycle instead of punishing those who do. • This is punishment of the majority who recycle everything.