SWA welcomes delay of deposit return scheme until March 2024

The Scottish Wholesale Association (SWA) has welcomed the news that the deposit return scheme (DRS) for Scotland will be delayed until next spring.

Colin Smith: ‘SWA has been pushing hard for a de-minimis approach to DRS.’

Originally due to take effect on 16 August 2023, the scheme will now not be introduced until 1 March 2024.

SWA chief executive Colin Smith commented: “We welcome the First Minister’s announcement of a 10-month delay and his continued commitment to support small businesses impacted by the scheme.

“We await the Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity’s speech on Thursday [20 April] when we will get further details of plans to simplify the scheme and what that will mean for Scotland’s wholesale sector.

“It’s now essential that the Scottish Government, Circularity Scotland [the scheme administrator], SEPA and business work together so we can address the myriad practical issues still standing in the way of a workable DRS being launched in March.

“SWA has been pushing hard for a de-minimis approach to ensure wholesalers putting small volumes of a product on to the market aren’t hit hard by DRS and consumer choice isn’t reduced significantly. We believe that approach would help small importers but it would also reduce the numbers of producers Circularity Scotland has to deal with, thereby simplifying and de-risking Scotland’s DRS.”

Published Date: April 19, 2023