Scottish Government dithering on DRS delay
The Scottish Government has been accused of ‘dithering’ after Scotland’s proposed deposit return scheme has been delayed by an unnecessarily long time.
Today’s virtual meeting of the Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform Committee saw the DRS proposals delayed until at least 2022. It was first Scottish Parliament vote to be carried out remotely.
Scottish Greens environment spokesperson Mark Ruskell said:
“I understand why the current public health crisis has led to the postponement of some measures, but the Scottish Government has had the power to introduce a deposit return scheme for 11 years. Putting it off for another two or more is yet more dithering.
“Every delay means more carbon emissions, more littering and clean-up costs for councils.
“By the government’s own admission there are no Covid-related reasons why a deposit return scheme cannot be introduced in 18 months’ time, so the obvious conclusion is that this extra delay has as much to do with industry lobbying than public health concerns.
“We must work hard to ensure this doesn’t get further bogged down with delays. DRS needs real commitment and ambition if it is going to succeed.”