A controversial bottle return scheme which faces a key deadline this week has been branded a “nightmare” by a Stirling firm.
The Deposit Return Scheme will see customers paying a 20p deposit when purchasing a drink in a single-use container and they can then return the empty container to a point and get their deposit back.
It applies to single-use containers between 50 millilitres and 3 litres, made of PET plastic, aluminium, steel, or glass.
Producers will have a legal responsibility for the collection and management of drinks container under the scheme - which is set to begin on 16 August.
However, ahead of the deadline to sign up last night, figures from across Scotland’s food and drink and hospitality sectors have reacted with anger at the proposals, which they believe could impose massive extra costs on their businesses.
Stirling Distillery owner and manager Cameron McCann has slammed the potential impact of the scheme on his own operations.
Mr McCann said: “The glass is the main issue for us and there are real issues there. For example, our tonic comes from down south, do we need to do a different barcode for those now?
“We are also going through a redevelopment of our bottles, so are we going to need different designs for Scotland, England and the rest of the world?
“We already recycle 100 per cent of our glass so we can’t do any more and we can’t recycle broken glass anyway so we have still got to pay someone for that as well.
“I went to a roadshow hosted by Circularity Scotland and ended up with more questions than answers and both the Scottish Government and SEPA ended up not attending.
“Consultation doesn’t actually mean consultation, it means someone talking to you and speaking nonsense; there has been no listening to businesses on this.
“We’ve just come out of a pandemic and in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis and now being hit with this - it’s trying to prevent people littering but those who do that now will still do so after this scheme is brought in.”
In an announcement over the weekend, Circular Economy Minister Lorna Slater said she was considering a grace period for small businesses to have to comply with the scheme - but still urged them to sign up for the deadline.
Meanwhile, Mid Scotland and Fife MSP Alexander Stewart said the scheme had the potential to “kill small businesses” and criticised Ms Slater for her handling of the affair.
Mr Stewart said: “This shambolic attempt at a DRS was already ill thought-out and amateurish at best, but now this latest announcement by their minister in charge at the 11th hour, just two days before the deadline is nothing short of farcical.
“Not only this, she and her cohorts have absolutely no clue as to how a ‘small producer’ will be defined and in reality, they have no idea at all as regards how this will be administered.
“Her latest car-crash of an announcement has left countless business owners reeling.
“This scheme in its current form will kill small businesses locally. Many from right across Stirling and Clackmannanshire have already contacted me directly and are desperately worried. This complete lunacy has to stop now. Of course, we all want a successful DRS scheme but, local livelihoods are being jeopardised by a minister who is completely out of her depth and too blinkered to realise it.”
