Holyrood ministers have been accused of putting an American hedge fund ahead of small businesses in Scotland in a row over the forthcoming Deposit Return Scheme (DRS).
Scottish Conservative MSP Maurice Golden raised questions about the scheme’s administrator, Circularity Scotland, saying it had awarded a contract for waste management collections to Biffa – which he said was owned by a hedge fund.
Ministers had refused to extend the scope of Freedom of Information laws to Circularity Scotland, he said, branding it a “dereliction of duty that raises questions about procurement practices and dodgy dealings”.
Golden complained that no small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Scotland were invited to bid for the work.
He challenged Circular Economy Minister Lorna Slater over this during a debate at Holyrood, with the Tory asking: “Will the minister consider releasing the details of that procurement and explain to SMEs in Scotland why an American hedge fund is more important than them when they face financial ruin as a result of that procurement process.”
Slater said she was “very surprised” to hear a Tory MSP call for a “private enterprise” like Circularity Scotland to be subjected to Freedom of Information.
She also highlighted a £22m package announced this week to help address some of the concerns raised by small businesses about deposit return.
The scheme, which will see shoppers charged an additional 20p on every drink they buy in either a glass or plastic bottle or in a can, comes into force on 16 August, with producers having until the end of February to sign up to the scheme – something they have to do if they wish to sell their products in Scotland.
Under the Scottish Government proposals, the deposit on cans and bottles will be returned when customers take empty containers back, with Slater saying it would increase recycling rates for such items to 90%.
While opponents at Holyrood and some businesses have urged the government to push back the start date for the scheme, the minister insisted: “In the context of the current climate emergency, Scotland needs a deposit return scheme now.”
She stated: “It will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by four million tonnes over 25 years.
“It will reduce litter by a third, cutting the £46m of public money - that’s local authority money - spent cleaning up litter every year.
“It will drive an increase in recycling rates from 50% to 90% of scheme materials.”
But Golden told her that while “improving recycling and reducing litter are goals we all share”, the government had left preparations for the scheme to “the last minute”.
As a result, he said: “The Scottish Government finds itself in the middle of an almighty mess of its own creation.”
Golden continued: “Producers are being rushed to sign up to a scheme without having full details or costs. If they don’t sign, they can’t sell their products – it’s a lose-lose scenario.”
He called on ministers to establish an immediate review “to consider how we manage to launch this scheme successfully, with the deadline for producer registration to be extended”.
Slater insisted she took “the concerns of small producers very, very seriously”, saying she had met with the sector last week, with further discussions planned for Thursday.
But Scottish Labour’s Colin Smyth told her: “We don’t just need the minister to meet producers, we need her to actually listen to the concerns and take more action.”
He added: “There remain a number of issues regarding the scheme as currently proposed that need to be changed.
“These are not concerns of big business lobbying, these are the concerns primarily of small businesses in my region and others simply trying to survive.”
Scottish Liberal Democrat MSP Liam McArthur also called for a review of the scheme, saying: “The fact is too many questions remain unanswered, too much uncertainty hangs over the operation of this scheme and there is too much at stake if the government gets this wrong.
“So again I urge the government to pause, commission an urgent independent review, and pave the way to making DRS a success here in Scotland as we have seen it be in countries around the world.”
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