Automatic recycling machines like this can be found in every supermarket in Denmark
A leading lawyer has claimed that Scotland’s deposit return system could create an unlawful barrier to trade with the rest of the UK.
The initiative is due to start in August and will encourage recycling through a 20p deposit on single-use drink bottles and cans.
However, Aidan O’Neill KC said the Scottish Government may have to delay this until the start of a UK scheme in 2025.
He made the remarks as advice solicited by a group of distillers.
The BBC has reached out to the Scottish Government for comment.
Critics of the system in the beverage industry have expressed concerns that it will disrupt trade, create higher prices and limit choice.
Under the initiative, every drink manufacturer based in Scotland must add 20p to products to be sold in the country in a single-use container.
It is billed to the retailer, who in turn bills the consumer.
To get this money back, people have to take the empty bottles or cans to a return machine in a supermarket or a designated drop-off point.
A total of 17,000 drop-off points are to be set up across Scotland, with the scheme due to go live on August 16.
Empty plastic bottles
In a legal opinion, Mr O’Neill said he believed there were “reasonable” concerns the system would create a trade barrier between Scotland and England, as it would require the same product to be priced differently on either side of the border.
He said economic expert evidence was needed to confirm this, but that it meant the scheme could breach the UK Internal Market Act 2020.
Mr O’Neill also warned that rules on single-use packaged drinks imported into Scotland from other parts of the UK would be unenforceable, which would penalize Scottish producers.
He said this should “not come as a surprise to the Scottish Government” as a 2020 briefing paper by a Cambridge University law professor warned the Scottish Parliament of such potential legal difficulties.
The UK government said it would prefer to introduce a UK deposit return scheme as it would “minimise disruption to the drinks industry and give consumers choice”.
A spokesman added: “While the Scottish Government are pushing ahead with their own deposit return system, the UK Government is working with them to ensure as much interoperability as possible between systems across the UK.”
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