Humza Yousaf has given his clearest indication yet that a flagship recycling initiative will be scrapped unless there is a last minute u-turn from the UK Government.
The First Minister said today he "struggled" to see how the deposit return scheme (DRS) could progress if glass containers were not included.
The Scottish Government had planned to introduce the scheme - which would charge customers a returnable deposit for each single-use drinks container they buy - in March next year.
But Westminster last month demanded that glass be excluded from the Holyrood plans in order to meet strict UK Internal Market rules.
Yousaf wrote to Rishi Sunak last weekend to demand the Prime Minister reconsider the intervention ahead of a meeting of the Scottish Government Cabinet on Tuesday morning.
Speaking in Edinburgh, the SNP leader claimed Tory ministers would continue to "frustrate" the implementation of a DRS without glass.
He said: "I'm not sure there are many other options there. If we were to push ahead with a DRS that doesn't include glass, then it would put Scottish business at a competitive disadvantage.
"We potentially risk jobs and investment. I would not be confident in the UK Government not throwing other road blocks in the way to do everything they can to frustrate the process and delay the implementation date.
"We have to consider all of that, and that's why if we don't give the full exemption, I struggle to see how we progress with the DRS."
Yousaf added the scheme could be revisited in the future "if circumstances change".
But he expressed scepticism that the UK Government's own deposit scheme could be ready by its date of October 2025 as necessary legislation had not been passed by MPs.
Green MSP Mark Ruskell had earlier said the conditions imposed by the UK Government were "very, very challenging".
He said: "I think we are at a point now where the scheme is on the brink, there does need to be negotiation now around the detail of the UK Government’s letter and its conditions that it’s put down.
“Some of these conditions are very very challenging. If the UK Government continues to require the exclusion of glass then clearly that will have an economic impact on the viability of the scheme, it will also have a very damaging impact on the environmental benefits of the scheme as well.”
Tory minister Michael Gove had earlier called on the Scottish Government to “acknowledge… it’s got things wrong” over the DRS.
Speaking in the Commons, SNP MP Chris Stephens had cited the Conservative manifesto, saying: “Other than a decision to oppose and undermine devolved parliaments and governments, what has changed from their manifesto, or is the UK Government simply bottling it?”
Gove replied: “I’m tempted to say the SNP should can it on this question because it has been the case that the businesses with whom the Scottish Government have been interacting, have been uniform and loud and clear in their determination to ensure that this scheme works inter-operably across the whole UK."
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