It has emerged Perth and Kinross Council (PKC) - which offered its help in 2016 with the scheme - still has questions regarding the roll-out of the Deposit Return Scheme.
PKC's Waste Services manager this week revealed to councillors officers had "only just" received an updated response to some questions and still had others outstanding.
An Independent councillor has claimed the scheme could have been "workable" and "ready to go" had PKC's offer to pilot the scheme been accepted.
It was revealed as PKC's Environment, Infrastructure and Economic Development Committee scrutinised the council's latest waste management plan when it met on Wednesday, March 29.
Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme is due to be launched on August 16, 2023. It will see consumers pay a 20p deposit for drinks bought in a single-use container made of PET plastic, steel and aluminium, or glass. Consumers will then get their 20p back when they return their empty container.
Carse of Gowrie Conservative councillor - and former convener of the committee - Angus Forbes asked what preparations the council had done and still had to do ahead of the scheme's launch.
He was told a number of things had been done, but the council has not made any financial outlay on it just yet.
PKC's Waste Services manager Sheila Best said: "There have been a number of things happening.
"We have a school estate so we have set up a regional Tayside group - which consists of Waste Services, facilities managers and Tayside Contracts - to look at the implications of all schools across Tayside.
"There have been a number of questions raised by ASSIST FM [ The Association of Service Solutions in Scotland for Facilities Management] to the Scottish Government and we have only just received an update on the response to some of those questions including things like how we manage free school meals, the implications around glass and how we're actually designated. Are we a return point operator or are we seeing an exemption for the scheme? There are a number of questions still outstanding. That group continues to meet on a very regular basis to work that through."
One question that remains is where containers can be returned and if the council itself needs to provide return vending machines at its recycling centres or local recycling points. There are over 140 recycling points across Perth and Kinross.
Ms Best added: "In terms of waste, from an operational side we have considered whether we would introduce reverse vending machines at recycling centres. However we can't determine that at the moment until we understand the full mapping of where all return point operators are going to operate and whether there would be any gap that would require us to potentially provide that.
"There is a business case we would have to look at as to whether we would get enough volume to cover costs in relation to that so I think that's still something we are still considering.
"In terms of recycling points, we will have to consider going forward what service we provide for the remaining glass that is not covered by the scheme. That could be things like glass jars."
The council's waste chief added: "At the moment we haven't incurred any costs. We haven't bought or leased any reverse vending machines but obviously all these things will continue to be considered.
"What we have done is pause procurement on a new glass recycling vehicle until we can determine what our methodology for collection of the remaining glass will be going forward."
Independent councillor Colin Stewart said: "I'm glad to see that it looks like we might be getting to a point where there is a Deposit Return Scheme although I remain concerned about the detail of its implementation."
The Strathmore councillor suggested issues could have been ironed out sooner had The Scottish Government taken up PKC's offer to help back in 2016.
In August 2016 PKC voted to instruct the council's leader to write to the then environment secretary - and local MSP - Roseanna Cunningham offering PKC's involvement with her and COSLA in producing a final design for the scheme.
He said: "Then councillor Barnacle and I brought forward a motion which was supported unanimously offering the services of this local authority as a pilot area.
"I think it would have been useful at that point if that offer had been taken up because we might have been in a position nationally where we had a more workable scheme that people could understand, ready to go."
