Deposit return scheme: we may not trade in Scotland, Fyne Ales boss warns

One of Scotland’s leading craft ale brewers has said he is considering refusing to trade north of the border because of the unknown costs of implementing the deposit return scheme for bottles and cans.

Jamie Delap, managing director of Fyne Ales, bases in Argyll, said the Scottish government scheme to be introduced this August was “insanely complex” and would lead to a huge rise in costs for small, independent brewers that could put some of them out of business.

He echoed widespread calls for the scheme to be postponed for at least 18 months to help small businesses cope with its introduction. Alister Jack, the Scottish secretary, was one of several opposition politicians urging the Scottish government yesterday to pause.

Under the scheme, consumers will be charged 20p extra when they buy bottles or cans of drink, to be refunded when the containers are returned to the shops they were bought from.

Delap, who is also Scotland director of the Society of Independent Brewers, said the fact that the scheme would create different cost regimes on either side of the Scottish border would mean a huge rise in charges for drinks bought in Scotland. The cost of buying some craft beers would have to double, even though the buyer would get only 20p back.

“The problem with this scheme is that there are so many features that are not yet clear to producers and we are having to make a decision on whether we continue to supply the Scottish market,” Delap told The Sunday Show on BBC Scotland. “Either we sign up [by February 17] to a three-year legal agreement with totally unknown, unquantifiable costs against it, or we don’t sign up and risk the possibility that we don’t sell in Scotland any more.

“We can see a lot of brewers going out of business and a lot of people based outside Scotland declining to sell in Scotland. Consumers will see far less choice.”

Jack urged the Scottish government to pause the scheme and pursue a UK-wide system. “The last thing we want to do is rush into this and cause unnecessary difficulties for businesses in Scotland,” he told the Scottish Mail on Sunday.

The UK government is not considering using its powers to block the changes as it has with the Scottish Gender Recognition Reform Bill. However, it can withhold consent for the scheme to be exempt from the UK Internal Market Act. Scottish ministers have not yet applied for an exemption but there is a presumption against such a decision. If Whitehall does not agree to exempt the scheme, English producers will not have to comply with the new rules binding Scottish companies.

England’s deposit return scheme is not expected to be in operation before 2025, and will not include glass.

The Scottish Conservatives and the Scottish Liberal Democrats have also called on the Scottish government to pause the scheme.

Maurice Golden, a Scottish Conservative MSP, said businesses were “faced with the impossible choice of either signing up by February 17 to a scheme that could bankrupt them or accept they can no longer trade in Scotland come August”.

Ministers declined to appear on the BBC yesterday to defend the scheme but Lorna Slater, minister for the circular economy, said later: “Scotland’s deposit return scheme will be a major part of our efforts to reduce littering, cut emissions and build a more circular economy when it goes live on August 16 this year.

“Circularity Scotland is actively engaging with businesses across Scotland to help them prepare for the introduction of the scheme.”