The Federation of Independent Retailers (The Fed) has claimed that Circularity Scotland’s fall into administration adds strength to retailers’ fight for compensation after Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) was delayed until 2025.
The company, which was tasked with operating Scotland’s DRS, called in administrators yesterday, following a joint announcement from the British Beer & Pub Association, British Soft Drinks Association and Scottish Retail Consortium last Friday that they were pulling funding.
The Fed’s vice president Mo Razzaq said he was “deeply sorry” for the potential loss of 60 jobs at Circularity Scotland, adding that this “pushes the case for compensation for retailers further”.
Scottish retailers who invested in reverse vending machines ahead of the DRS are now locked into payments and the Fed is battling for compensation from the Scottish Government.
However, the Scottish Government is adamant that it is not at fault, with Economy Minister Lorna Slater stating that Circularity Scotland’s move to appoint administrators was “an unforgivable consequence” of the UK Government “torpedoing” Scotland’s DRS plans.
She told MSPs yesterday: “Circularity Scotland had confidence that the scheme could go ahead without glass. However, the matter that is pernicious and actually blocks the scheme is the unreasonable conditions that were placed at the same time that glass was removed.”
She claimed that one of those conditions was that Scotland matched the UK’s deposit level. “The UK Government has not published its regulations or told us what that deposit level is,” she said. “It is impossible for me to launch a deposit return scheme when I cannot even tell businesses what the level of that deposit might be, which is why we were not able to go forward.”
She added: “This is not a case of two governments not working together; it is a case of our working very hard and the UK Government torpedoing us.”
No comments yet