Green Minister Lorna Slater attempted to dress the embarrassing announcement as a triumph but MSPs were not impressed.

The launch of the Scottish government’s flagship bottle deposit scheme will not take place until August 2023, four years after it was officially unveiled, Scottish Greens minister Lorna Slater has admitted.

The SNP/Green government minister for the Circular economy came back to the Scottish parliament yesterday with the delayed launch date to face hostile questioning from MSPs who dismissed the plans as “diabolically complex”.