The fate of Scotland’s deposit return scheme will be known by the end of the month, Circular Economy Minister Lorna Slater told the Scottish Grocers’ Federation summit today (18 May).
Slater told delegates that First Minister Humza Yousaf had written to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to set a deadline for a decision on the exemption, without which, the flagship scheme cannot go ahead.
Slater said: “The First Minister wrote to the Prime Minister last week, setting a deadline at the end of May. So if we haven’t heard from them by the end of May, because of the concerns around the viability of the scheme going forward, we will have to make a proactive decision at that point as to whether the scene is viable or not to move forward.
“I can’t say exactly how that’s going to fall out. We’re still working very closely with the UK government to make that happen.”
She added: “By the end of May, we’ll know one way or another.”
