The Scottish Green MSP, Ross Greer, has hit out at the UK Government after it announced that it will only allow Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) to go ahead if glass is excluded.
The controversial scheme would see someone buying a can or bottle from a shop and paying a 20p deposit, which they will get back when they take the empty bottle back to one of the thousands of return points being set up across the country.
The UK Government has since blocked the inclusion of glass in Scotland’s DRS under the Internal Market Act.
Now Ross Greer, the MSP for West Scotland, has hit out at the move and said: “Deposit Return Schemes are a tried, tested and simple way to increase recycling, reduce littering and make our environment safer. Scotland’s DRS will mean cleaner streets in North Ayrshire.
“People in North Ayrshire are sick of seeing cans, bottles and broken glass on our streets and in our parks. We know from the dozens of other deposit return schemes across the world that the introduction of our own scheme will tackle this blight.
“The Scottish Parliament voted for this scheme three years ago, but the Tories are now doing everything they can to obstruct it, including contradicting their own manifesto commitments. It is an attack on our environment and on Scottish democracy. Why should Westminster get to veto decisions made by Scotland’s Parliament, especially using a power they only have as a result of Brexit which Scotland voted against.
“Democracy matters, and people in North Ayrshire and around the country will not welcome this wrecking tactic from a Tory Westminster government who they have rejected at the ballot box time and again.”
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