Good news for some, bad for others, as the first minister for Scotland, Humza Yousaf has announced that the planned DRS scheme for Scotland will now be delayed until March 2024. This is a change from the initial go-live date of 16th August 2023.
In his speech outlining his priorities for the coming 3 years, Mr Yousaf discussed that he and Lorna Slater, the Circular Economy Minister (who had been previously confident in the schemes launch in August) had heard the concerns about readiness.
He said they would work with businesses, together with Circularity Scotland to address these concerns and "ensure a successful launch" on the new date. He also announced that a package of measures will also be put in place to "simplify and de-risk" the scheme.
In the past few years the DRS scheme has faced uncertainty and issues. Many businesses are struggling to understand the items that are included in the scheme and the costs of implementing processing, especially for smaller businesses.
So, watch this space...