What began as an effort to boost recycling rates has become a constitutional bin fire that is raising the temperature in an already-heated political climate.

On paper, it seems hardly believable that Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) could become this contentious. After all, the legislation underpinning it was approved by all five parties in the Scottish Parliament. And, let’s face it, it’s about keeping single-use drinks containers out of landfill – surely something few could take issue with during this climate crisis.

Criticism of a lack of certainty has dogged the Scottish Government scheme, which has twice been pushed back. In March, the Association of Convenience Stores reported that almost half (47 per cent) of independent retailers did not know how they would approach the DRS, which is due to go live in mid-August. In the same month, legal firm Pinsent Mason said the same applied to many hospitality businesses, despite efforts by scheme administrator Circularity Scotland to address these.

There has been critique of the large salaries for seniors at the not-for-profit organisation, with chief executive David Harris taking home £300,000 and six other board members sharing almost £370,000 in fees. Labour’s Colin Smyth MSP branded those sums “excessive”, questioning value-for-money for the small producers he said are “deeply worried about the cost of the scheme”.

Want to see more SNP fails? – Health Matters