Lorna Slater gave ‘guarantee’ on bottle return scheme, court told | UK News

A waste firm suing the Scottish government over its botched bottle return scheme has claimed it was offered “unequivocal” assurances that the plan would go ahead.

Biffa Waste Services is seeking more than £166m of reparations over the decision to delay the recycling initiative in 2023.

Chief executive Michael Topham told the Court of Session that former government minister Lorna Slater had offered assurances “akin to a guarantee” that the scheme would proceed.

The government, which insists it was not responsible for the collapse of the plans, has said assurances in the letter were neither “new nor unique”.

Under the scheme, a 20p deposit would have been added to all single-use drinks containers made of PET plastic, metal or glass. The fee could be reclaimed when the containers were returned to retailers or reverse vending machines.

The initiative, which had already been delayed, was due to go live in August 2023.

However, the plans were shelved weeks before the launch date following a dispute with the UK government, which would have been required to grant the scheme an exemption from the Internal Market Act.

Downing Street refused to do so unless the Scottish government conformed to a UK-wide approach excluding glass.

Slater – who left the government last year following the collapse of the SNP-Green power-sharing agreement – said she had no choice but to delay the plans and accused Conservative ministers of sabotage.

Mr Topham told the Court of Session that a letter from Slater in 2022 had offered the firm an “unequivocal reassurance about their commitment to the scheme”.

He claimed that it applied “pressure somewhat on us to conclude the contract and move ahead”.

“I took it as being akin to a guarantee that the scheme was happening and there was no risk whatsoever of it not going ahead,” the Biffa chief executive said.

He described the letter as “completely foundational”, “unambiguous” and “emphatic”.

Mr Topham also said there had been no mention of any dispute over internal market rules.

He said if he had been told about any it would have been a “complete curveball”, a “huge shock” and that he would have made signing the contract conditional on having an exemption in place.

The court examined minutes from various meetings in which Biffa raised concerns about the safety of its investment with Circularity Scotland, questioning whether there could be delays which could lead to “a change in political appetite for the scheme”.

Mr Topham said he believed Slater’s letter was meant to allay such concerns.

The Scottish government pointed out that Biffa had taken out insurance with a premium of more than £3m, suggesting that this unusually high premium reflected the risk inherent in the scheme.

Mr Topham replied that it felt like a price worth paying and that the outlay could be recovered.

Circularity Scotland, the non-profit company funded by the drinks industry that was due to manage the scheme, collapsed with debts and liabilities of more than £86m.

Biffa, one of its main creditors, is seeking up to £166.2m of reparations.

This includes about £115m in projected profits over a 10-year contract with Circularity Scotland, as well as about £50m Biffa said it spent in preparation for the scheme.

Lord Clark said in a preliminary hearing that “questions remain” about the costs incurred by the waste company and the amount of future profits it lost out on.

Scotland is not expected to have a deposit return scheme until October 2027 at the earliest, when Holyrood ministers are expected to align their plans with a UK government initiative.

A Scottish government review from March 2023 reported that its plans were fraught with problems months before the UK government raised objections.

It also emerged that the publicly-owned Scottish Investment Bank made an £8m loss on Circularity Scotland.

The Court of Session hearings are scheduled to last for eight days.