CIRCULARITY Scotland has confirmed that its staff have been sent home – and it cannot say when or if they will return.
Earlier this month, Scotland’s stand-alone Deposit Return Scheme was felled by the UK Government denying it an Internal Market Act exemption, although many would argue that the scheme had problems long before that coup de grâce.
Whatever your preferred version of events, after it was announced that Scotland was reluctantly falling into step with England’s planned DRS introduction in October 2025, a huge question mark has hung over the fate – and indeed function – of Circularity Scotland, the limited company created to deliver and administer the Scottish scheme.
Just over a week ago, the body was insisting that it was still ready to go ahead with an amended version of the DRS that excluded glass collection, as that was the main element that Westminster (and the hospitality sector) was unhappy about.
At that time, Circularity Scotland Chief Executive David Harris said that his team and the industry were prepared to go live with that in March 2024, and that a scheme without glass would be economically viable.
However, Circular Economy minister Lorna Slater has since made it plain that she will not proceed with a diminished March 2024 start, but will instead put the whole project aside until an English scheme emerges to reveal what Westminster defines as the acceptable parameters of deposit-based recycling.
This week, having taken some time to consider its options, Circularity Scotland issued the following statement:-
“The Board of Circularity Scotland have been working to manage the impact of the Scottish Government’s announcement and find a way for the business to continue to operate.
“While this work is ongoing, we instructed staff to go home on Thursday 8th June. The unfortunate reality is that, at this point, we are not able to confirm whether our staff will be paid for this month or whether they will be able to return to the office.
“The Board recognises that this is an extremely difficult time for our people and is working tirelessly to find a solution. We have remained in communication with our staff throughout and will provide updates to them at the earliest possible time.”
