The Scottish Government is reportedly being sued for £100m over investment made for the deposit return scheme

by JockularJim

17 comments

  1. > Scottish Government is reportedly facing a £100 million legal threat from a waste firm over investment made for the troubled deposit return scheme.

    > According to reports, Biffa is threatening to sue the Scottish Government in an attempt to try and recover the investment it made in the scheme that has been delayed.

    > Lorna Slater, the Scottish Government’s circular economy minister, was forced to delay the deposit return scheme to align with a UK-wide strategy after the UK government refused to give an exemption to the Internal Market Act to allow glass to be included, despite Tory ministers initially supporting the use of glass. The UK government has suggested the rollout will now be pushed back from 2025 to at least 2027.

    > According to the Sunday Mail, Biffa purchased almost 200 new trucks and had started recruiting staff when the scheme was delayed last June.A source with knowledge of the Biffa claim told the paper: “A huge investment was made in preparing for this contract and assurances were given that it would be going ahead.

    > “When it was cancelled, Biffa lost a ­significant amount of money and has no choice but to try and recover some of that from the ­Scottish Government given it was their scheme and they were responsible for it.”

    > The Scottish Government hoped to restart the scheme when England and Wales launched their own versions in 2025.But the UK ­government has now delayed it for two more years, leading to Ms Slater writing to Environment Secretary Steve Barclay on Thursday, as exclusively revealed by The Scotsman.

    > The scheme aimed to boost recycling rates by charging a 20p deposit on all glass and plastic drink containers which would be reclaimed when empty containers were returned.

    Published 31st March, so…

  2. With the news that the English/UK wide scheme is likely to be delayed significantly, it’s clear that Westminster have behaved like arseholes in this. Even if genuine, the concerns regarding the UK internal market should have been raised at a much earlier stage and they shouldn’t be imposing interoperability 2+ years after Holyrood thinks it was ready to go.

    That said, i’m not sure which of the requirements embedded in the IMA exemption made running a modified version of the Scottish scheme unviable:

    [> The conditions for an exclusion include a maximum cap on deposit levels agreed across all nations, one administration fee to cover all schemes across the UK, one barcode for use across all parts of the UK and one logo for all schemes.](https://www.gov.scot/news/deposit-return/)

    Given Biffa and Circularity Scotland both said publicly they thought it should still go ahead, I can see why the former is suing.

    I wonder how the courts would decide if the Scottish Government is legally responsible for them earning a return on that investment though?

  4. This is what happens in the real world when you don’t think things through properly. The greens should be made to pay it themselves and stop wasting the hard working tax payers money in the highest taxed nation in the UK.

  5. Can someone explain to me like im an idiot why SG cant just go ahead with the deposit return scheme regardless of what Westminster want?

  6. Come to ireland to see how well
    It’s going over here!! 🙃

  7. Seems like Biffa are going after the wrong government

  9. DRS has been in force in Ireland for 6 months now and is an unmitigated disaster.

  10. Can I just point out that Slovakia has had a DRS in place for years now and haven’t run into any remotely serious issues…

  11. It’s so ridiculously clear the fault lies with WM, the Tories and the IMA, imposed without consent.

    If you were in any doubt, and you really shouldn’t be, about the arbitrary, cynical and malign purpose of the act and UK government.

    Here they are intervening again. To protect the mousetrap market.

    [The UK government has blocked a Holyrood ban on the sale of glue traps for rats and mice, provoking a fresh cross-border row on the limits of devolution](https://twitter.com/timesscotland/status/1774712847802540529?t=HxLI2yzsDq049mcXkiSDaQ&s=19)

  12. Scottish greens and monumental fuckups – name a more iconic duo.

  14. Imagine making investments dependent on the competence of the Scottish Government.

  16. I mean this is not a surprise. She should have been sacked over all this. Just powering ahead with a policy you don’t have sign off from is absolutely disgusting.

Leave a Reply