Commenting on the second delay to the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS), confirmed by Minister Lorna Slater MSP in the Scottish Parliament today, Dr Liz Cameron CBE, Chief Executive, Scottish Chambers of Commerce, said:
“After weeks of uncertainty, businesses in Scotland will be relieved to hear that the DRS scheme has been delayed until October 2025 at the earliest. While the scheme has been well-intended and businesses have broadly supported its objectives, its design has been fundamentally broken and it has been clear for some time that it needs drastic change.
“We welcome the Minister’s intent to send the DRS back to the legislative drawing board where the business community will give its input onto the catalogue of changes that are required to make it cost effective and workable, particularly for SMEs.
“Compensation should be considered for firms which have already spent considerable time, investment, and resource into preparing for two separate go live dates.
“We now need to see both the Scottish & UK Government constructively engage and work with each other to ensure effective implementation of DRS schemes across the UK.”