Shoppers face price hikes on drinks by up to a third under the Scottish Government’s controversial drinks recycling scheme, which has been compared to a poll tax on the poor. The Sunday Mail can reveal the cost of common items such as beer, water and fizzy juice will soar way beyond the extra 20p-per-item recycling fee when the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) is launched in August.
Former cabinet secretary for rural development Fergus Ewing said he was astonished by the latest revelation and launched a blistering attack on the SNP and Greens scheme.
The MSP said: “I never dreamt the party I have worked for for half a century would bring in a policy akin to the dreaded poll tax from Margaret Thatcher. In the worst cost-of-living crisis in modern times, the public are entitled to expect their Government will not make things even worse by policies that will push up prices even more, yet that is precisely what the Deposit Return Scheme will do.
“The poorest with no access to cars will end up paying the highest prices of all as they often can’t shop where prices are cheapest. It’s like a super poll tax for the poorest shoppers.
“I have repeatedly warned colleagues at the highest level that DRS spells Disastrous and Ruinous for Scotland. I call upon Humza Yousaf to have the guts to scrap this dire scheme.”
First Minister Yousaf has come under mounting pressure to pause the scheme after pledging to review it during the SNP leadership campaign. It’s designed to see customers return bottles to get their 20p deposit back but a probe by the Sunday Mail discovered how some businesses will hike the cost of items further to cover additional costs.
Louise MacLean, co-founder of Cold Town Brewery in Edinburgh, said her company’s £2 cans of beer will go up by about 43p when the scheme launches on August 16. She said: “Firms like Coca-Cola and Heineken should be big enough to absorb these costs but, for us, you’re dividing these costs by a much smaller amount of product so they’re much higher per item. We reckon that, as well as the 20p deposit, the additional cost per can will be between 17p and 23p.”
Maclean said she fears that customers will just stop buying her beers in favour of cheaper alternatives but the company cannot fulfil its legal obligation to take part in the DRS without increasing prices. She said: “We can’t put our prices down, we can’t absorb the costs of the DRS. If we did, we may as well just pull down the shutters, mothball the company and make everyone redundant.”
Chris Payne, owner of Shoogle Spirits in Glasgow, said he will have to raise his prices by £1.22 a bottle before the 20p deposit is added under the DRS. His firm’s entry-level bottle of gin is £38 but will rise to £39.42.
He said: “If we produce more, costs go down proportionally but I don’t see it going down based on projections. If anything, we’d sell fewer units given our price rise and consumer cost-of-living challenges, making cost per bottle potentially even higher.”
A major retailer has provided the Sunday Mail with analysis showing they expect soft drinks to rise by a third, stating a £1 bottle of juice would cost around £1.33 under the scheme.
Ewing has criticised Green Minister Lorna Slater, who has been leading the project for the government, and said her claims about DRS being “cost neutral” are inaccurate.
Asked at a Holyrood Committee last month about the additional cost of products, she said: “The deposit itself – the 20p – is paid and then the customer gets it back, so it will be cost neutral. What businesses charge for their products is not a matter for the Scottish Government.”
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “We are committed to this important scheme, and continue to work to identify further feasible, fair and legal options to support small producers.”
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