Waste management firm 'sues Scottish ministers for £200MILLION' after deposit return disaster

A waste management firm has started a £200million court claim against Scottish ministers over the failed bottle recycling scheme.

Lawyers for Biffa Waste Services Ltd addressed judge Lord Clark at the Court of Session yesterday.

The company believes the Holyrood government is responsible for it incurring massive losses and it now wants to recover the money it sank into the collapsed Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) as well as other associated set-up costs.

Biffa’s legal team are also seeking more than £100million in compensation for the loss of profits it was in line to make from its ten-year deal to help run the DRS.

The firm believes the Scottish Government misrepresented the scheme to them when it assured Biffa it would go ahead.

The company is said to have relied on personal assurances from Green Party co-leader Lorna Slater before deciding to invest £55million in vehicles and equipment to prepare for the DRS.

The Circular Economy Minister abandoned the botched project in June 2023.

Scotland’s DRS was scrapped after the UK Government declined a request for an exclusion from the Internal Market Act amid a row over the inclusion of glass

bottles which would have put the project out of alignment with plans for similar schemes in other parts of Britain.

Ms Slater was minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity at Holyrood from August 2021 until the SNP ended its power-sharing deal with the Greens in April this year.

Yesterday, during a short virtual hearing, Roddy Dunlop, KC, told Lord Clark he was representing Biffa while rival advocate Gerry Moynihan, KC, appeared on behalf of Scottish ministers.

The pair agreed a further hearing should take place later this year to examine legal issues affecting the case. A spokesman for Biffa said: ‘Biffa was selected by Circularity Scotland Limited as the logistics partner for the delivery of the Deposit Return Scheme and invested significant sums to support its timely and successful implementation.

‘This was done in good faith and on the expectation and understanding that the delivery of the scheme had been mandated by the Scottish Government.

‘Having carefully reviewed our position with our advisers, we can confirm that we are taking legal action to seek appropriate compensation for the losses Biffa has incurred.’

A Scottish government spokesman said: ‘The Scottish Government cannot comment on ongoing litigation.’

The DRS was supposed to boost recycling by charging a 20p deposit on every drinks container sold, which would be refunded when the empty cans and bottles were returned.

Biffa was appointed to collect all the recycled containers across Scotland on a ten-year deal, with the firm expecting to make more than £100million in profits.

It’s understood the total sum Biffa is seeking in the court action is more than £200million.

The company which was set up by Holyrood ministers to administer the scheme, Circularity Scotland, collapsed into administration last year after Ms Slater abandoned the project.

A new deposit and return recycling scheme that will include Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland is now due to be rolled out across the UK in October 2027.

Speaking in May, Wellbeing Economy Secretary Mairi Mc-Allan told MSPs glass will not initially be included.

She said: ‘We have agreed to commence a DRS in Scotland without glass on day one, assuming this remains the position across all nations of the UK.’

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