Scotland's Deposit Return Scheme under pressure

A Scottish cross party group has raised dire concerns about the viability of the proposed Scottish Deposit return scheme (DRS) due to go live in August 2023.

UKHospitality Scotland executive director Leon Thompson, said: “The complexity of the Scheme brings with it inherent financial risks to hospitality businesses. Scotland members continue to be concerned about secure storage, the theft of containers and the breakage of glass, all of which will result in the loss of deposits – a situation that would hit businesses hard.”

The scheme does not allow business to recover VAT on deposits according to Thompson the deposit is 20p +vat per container or 24p. However business can only recover 20p for returning the container.