Biffa Waste Services chief executive Michael Topham today told a court that former Green minister Lorna Slater gave him fan “unambiguous and emphatic” assurance that Scotland’s deposit return scheme (DRS) would go ahead.
The company was appointed by administrator Circularity Scotland as sole logistics provider for the scheme to collect, transport, count and recycle returned containers.
On the back of the former Circularity minister’s assurance Biffa 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.
Biffa is now claiming £166 million in damages from the Scottish Goverrnment which denies the claims.
In the Court of Session, Mr Topham said of the letter from Ms Slater: “It was so unambiguous and emphatic. It provided me with certainty there was no doubt it was going ahead.”
He added that it “applied pressure somewhat on us to conclude the contract and move ahead”.
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 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, Ms 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.
At the time, Ms Slater blamed the Conservatives for insisting an exemption to the UK Internal Market Act would only be granted if major changes were made.
These included removing glass from the scheme, introducing standardised labelling, and applying a uniform deposit charge across the UK.
However, Circularity Scotland maintained that the scheme could have complied with the UK Government’s requirements and launched this year.
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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