Compensation threat if bottle return scheme axed - Yousaf

Humza Yousaf has said he expects businesses to demand compensation from the UK government if Scotland's deposit return scheme does not go ahead.

The first minister said Westminster had put his government in a "really difficult position".

Circular economy minister Lorna Slater has warned that without a Scottish exemption from the UK's Internal Market Act, the Scottish scheme could be axed.

The UK government is still considering the exemption request.

The deposit return scheme - which is aimed at increasing the number of single-use drinks bottle and cans that are recycled - requires Westminster to grant an exemption to the UK-wide Internal Market Act, given its possible implications for business elsewhere in the UK.

Mr Yousaf told BBC Scotland the scheme "could be unviable" if the exemption request is not granted by the end of the month.

He said: "If we don't get it this month we have been told by Circularity Scotland, the operator of the scheme, that the scheme could be unviable.

"There's no reason for the UK government not to grant that exemption. They are playing politics with what is the climate emergency."

Asked if the Scottish government would compensate businesses who have already prepared for and spent money on the scheme, he said: "If the UK government end up pulling the plug on the scheme, because they don't give the Internal Market Act exemption, then I wouldn't be surprised at all if companies are asking for compensation.

"And I think the UK government would have a real challenge on their hands."

A UK government spokesman previously said it received a formal request for an exemption on 6 March and it has not yet been possible to fully assess the impacts of the exclusion request on cross-UK trade, firms and consumers.

The Scottish government had been due to launch in August this year but was delayed until next March after Mr Yousaf became first minister.

The scheme has faced opposition from many small breweries and distillers.

It will see 20p added to the price of a single-use drinks container in Scotland, which will be refunded to people who return the container for recycling.

Some retailers will accept returns over the counter while larger stores, shopping centres and community hubs will operate automated receiving points known as reverse vending machines.

Recycling schemes are currently operated by local authorities, with glass collections being a source of income for councils.

Circularity Scotland, a not-for-profit company established to administer the new scheme, has said the ongoing uncertainty was causing a crisis for its future.