Recycling boss says Greens pledge cost his firm £166m

A WASTE firm suing the Scottish Government over its bottle return scheme has said it was “provided with certainty” it would go ahead.

- By Rachel Keenan and Douglas Dickie

Biffa Waste Services is looking for £166million of reparations over the decision to delay the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) in 2023.

Speaking in the Court of Session in Edinburgh on Tuesday, Biffa chief executive Michael Topham said a letter in May 2022 from then Government minister Lorna Slater had offered assurances.

He said: “It was so unambiguous and emphatic. It provided me with certainty there was no doubt it was going ahead. I read it as a very unequivocal reassurance about their commitment to the scheme.” He also claimed it applied “pressure somewhat on us to conclude the contract and move ahead”.

The Scottish Government changed tack when UK ministers used the Internal Market Act to rule glass bottles could not be included.