KATE Forbes has said she would "pause" Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme, which is set to come into force later this year if she becomes first minister.
It comes after Humza Yousaf said he would “exclude small businesses” from the scheme during the first year of operation should he replace Nicola Sturgeon as leader of the SNP.
The scheme would see a 20p deposit added to all single-use drinks in glass or plastic bottles and cans.
Consumers would be able to get their money back by returning the container to retailers and hospitality premises that sell single-use products to take away.
Speaking to the Scottish Mail On Sunday, Forbes said: “This is a battle to support small businesses as we seek to grow Scotland’s economy, deliver prosperity, reduce poverty and reinvest in public services.
“At the moment, businesses are feeling overwhelmed with Brexit, Covid, the cost of living, and we need to be identifying the cumulative burdens and try to give them a bit of breathing space – that requires you to listen to them and then deliver for them.”
Forbes added that the scheme had to work “for all of Scotland” and that it was important to identify “why businesses are up in arms”.
Speaking to the BBC’s Sunday Show, the founder of Innis & Gunn Dougal Sharp said there were “real risks” whether he signed up or didn’t.
He said that signing up meant they could trade in Scotland beyond August but added: “If the scheme doesn’t go live or if it only partially goes live, the administrator can reach into our bank account and take out significant sums of money and we think that’s a real risk.”
Sharp added that his business would be “crippled” if he didn’t sign up and they were unable to sell in Scotland.
He explained that it would be a “huge price shock” for the consumer.
Forbes added: “The wave of concern needs us to pause, review the pressures and look at this in the context of businesses who are at the moment overwhelmed. Businesses in food and drink particularly are seeing their energy bills go up exponentially.
“I’ve seen this week alone a business talk of their energy bill go up five times in the space of 12 months.
“On top of that they are struggling for labour, on top of that they are dealing with the cost of living crisis, on top of that there are quite a number of government requirements, and I think we just need to recognise that small businesses, the SME sector, is the bedrock of the Scottish economy.”
She added that she wanted to “sense-check” some Scottish Government policies.
Meanwhile, Yousaf told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg that the “big operators should be held to account” for bottles littered across Scotland.
However, he added: “If I am elected first minister then I will exclude small businesses for the first year of operation of that scheme.
“It’s not the craft breweries or craft gin makers that are the ones causing the issue, it’s the big producers that are the ones we should be targeting.”
Elsewhere, Lorna Slater, who is driving the scheme, told the BBC it is “definitely going ahead”.
She said: “Humza Yousaf was really clear that he absolutely supports the scheme and industry investment is such that we have great momentum building towards the August 16 launch.
“Industry has invested tens of millions, in some cases hundreds of millions of pounds towards the scheme.
“We’re recruiting people, businesses have applied for planning permission to put in their reverse-vending machines.
“What Humza Yousaf mentioned is the current ask on the table from small producers is for a grace period to help them join the scheme at a time that’s right for them for the very smallest producers.”
She added: “We’ve worked really closely with the small producers. So the legislation for this was passed back in 2020 and businesses have known they needed to come on board.”
A one-year delay was already given in order to allow businesses to recover from Covid while Slater encouraged those who have not yet signed up to contact Circularity Scotland.
She explained that a £22 million package had been put together for small producers and that the deadline to sign up to the scheme is on Tuesday.
However, Slater added: “There are two different things in line here. One is signing up with the scheme administrator and the deadline for that is Tuesday.
“But that is the registration process by which they participate in the scheme.
"In terms of actively getting their product on the shelf and making sure the labelling is right and so forth, we will then work with small producers going forward to bring them into the scheme in a pragmatic way that works for them.
“So that’s two different deadlines.”
