Biffa Waste Services will today seek more than £166m in damages from the Scottish government in the Court of Session over the decision to postpone a recycling project in 2023.
The company was appointed by administrator Circularity Scotland as sole logistics provider for the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) to collect, transport, count and recycle returned containers.
Biffa claims to have invested £51.4 million in equipment, sites, recruitment and contracts, and anticipated £114.8 million in profits over ten years.
However, repeated delays to the DRS, which imposed a returnable 20p on each recyclable item, ultimately led to Circularity Scotland entering administration in June 2023, which brought Biffa’s contract to an end.
As such, Biffa has claimed that the Scottish Government owed the company a duty of care, having assumed responsibility for steps to deliver the DRS.
The Scottish Ministers deny the allegations.
In a preliminary opinion earlier this year, presiding Judge Lord Clark recognised that there were “important points which will require further consideration” but concluded the case was not “bound to fail” and allowed it to proceed to Proof before Answer – an evidential hearing where the court considers the facts before ruling.
The Scottish DRS has faced a series of postponements since its original planned launch in July 2022.
It was designed to add the 20p deposit to single-use drinks containers made of PET plastic, metal or glass, refundable when returned via retailers or reverse vending machines.
In June 2023, then minister Lorna Slater told parliament that UK government conditions on the scheme, including the exclusion of glass, left Scotland with “no option” but to delay implementation until October 2025 at the earliest.
A further delay was announced in April 2024, with the latest indicative start date now set for 1 October 2027, alongside England and Northern Ireland.
The hearing in the Court of Session is expected to last up to eight days.
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