Scotland’s deposit return scheme delayed until March 2024

The DRS is designed to improve recycling rates, reduce litter and help to tackle climate change, and was due to take effect on 16 August 2023. However, despite recent guidance having been issued by scheme administrator Circularity Scotland, the DRS has been criticised by business groups that have warned of the additional costs and practical difficulties involved in implementing the scheme in time for the August deadline.

Now, in a speech in the Scottish parliament on Tuesday that signalled his intention to “re-set” his government’s relationship with business, Yousaf has confirmed that the date the DRS will become effective on has been pushed back to 1 March 2024. He cited the lack of a UK government decision on excluding the DRS from the scope of the UK Internal Market Act as a factor in the decision to delay.

Yousaf said: “We will use that additional time to work with businesses, and Circularity Scotland, to address concerns with the scheme and ensure a successful launch next year.”

Yousaf said the government has further “developed a package of measures to simplify and de-risk the scheme, and to support small businesses and hospitality in particular” and he said further details of that package would be shared in parliament later this week.

In his speech, Yousaf also confirmed that proposed restrictions to alcohol advertising in Scotland, consulted on by the Scottish government over the winter, will be reconsidered. Licensing and brand experts at Pinsent Masons had warned that the proposals threatened jobs in Scotland’s drinks industry.

Yousaf said: “The aim of this consultation – to reduce the harm caused by alcohol to children – is not just admirable but it is one I support wholeheartedly. But it is clear that some of the proposals have caused real concern to an industry which is already facing challenges on multiple fronts.”

“I have therefore instructed my officials to take these ideas back to the drawing board, work with the industry, and crucially with public health stakeholders, to agree a new set of proposals,” he said.

“I believe that all of us want to reduce the harm caused by alcohol, particularly to young people - but without undermining Scotland’s world class drinks industry or tourism sector. I am hopeful that by taking a fresh look at this issue, we can find a way forward which achieves both of these crucial aims,” Yousaf said.