Biffa chief urges Scotland not to delay DRS

The UK government has refused to back down after it granted Scotland’s DRS and exclusion from the Internal Markets Act, but only if glass is excluded. A last ditch attempt from the First Minister, Humza Yousaf, failed over the weekend.

In his letter, Michael Topham said Biffa, the logistics partner for the scheme in Scotland, has already invested £65 million into the scheme in property, vehicles and counting equipment. Mr Topham said the investment was “made in good faith, based on an expectation and understanding that the delivery of the scheme has been legislated by the Scottish Government, and that we would recover this investment over the coming decade.”

Impact

Mr Topham explained that since the exclusion of glass, Biffa has worked with the scheme administrator Circularity Scotland to mitigate the impact, and the administrator is now confident “the impact will be minimal”.

He stated: “Whilst the position of the UK Government is no doubt unwelcome for all those committed to delivering the scheme for Scotland in the form originally intended, I strongly believe that the best course of action at this stage is to proceed without further delay.

“Any decision to cancel or significantly delay the scheme beyond March 2024 sends a seismic and detrimental signal to all those businesses that are in principle willing to commit resources into helping the Scottish Government deliver on its ambitions, completely undermining its position as a legislator that can be relied upon.”

Meeting

Scottish ministers are said to be seeking an urgent meeting with the UK government to thrash out the next steps for the scheme.

Mr Yousaf had previously said the scheme will be difficult to implement without glass, with the circular economy minister Lorna Slater called the decision “reckless”.

It has also been reported that companies which have invested in infrastructure could seek compensation, though nothing has formalised on this front so far.

The Scottish DRS is scheduled for March 2024, while the rest of the UK is targeting an October 2025 start date. The DRS in Wales does also include glass at this stage.