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The Deposit and Return Scheme for Scotland Amendment Regulations 2026

Draft. This instrument was laid in draft and may differ from the one made. Look for the made version under its title.

Draft 2026, ISBN 9780111067253

Original text. legislation.gov.uk does not revise statutory instruments, so later amendments are not shown here. Changes made to it are listed under each provision when known.

Draft Regulations laid before the Scottish Parliament under section 96(4) of the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009, for approval by resolution of the Scottish Parliament.

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

Made ***

Coming into force 2026

The Scottish Ministers make the following Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 84, 89, 90 and 96(2) of the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009f1 and all other powers enabling them to do so.

In accordance with section 84(6) of that Act, the Scottish Ministers consider that it is expedient to make these Regulations for the purpose of promoting and securing an increase in the recycling of materials.

In accordance with section 96(4) of that Act, a draft of this instrument has been laid before and approved by resolution of the Scottish Parliament.

Annotations to the whole text

Footnotes

f1

2009 asp 12; section 84(8) was inserted by section 10(3) of the Circular Economy (Scotland) Act 2024 (asp 13).

Contents

  1. 1Citation and commencement
  2. 2Amendment of the Deposit and Return Scheme for Scotland Regulations 2020
  3. 3Commencement date
  4. 4Interpretation
  5. 5Obligations relating to charging deposits and marketing, offering for sale or selling articles
  6. 6Obligations of a scheme administrator
  7. 7Collection etc. of scheme packaging and returnable packaging from return point operators, hospitality retailers and takeback service providers and connected payment
  8. 8Retailer obligations
  9. 9Return points
  10. 10Hospitality retailers
  11. 11Effect of making an application for a return point exemption
  12. 12Offences
  13. 13Amendment of schedules 1, 1A, 1B and 1C
  14. 14Amendment of schedule 1C
  15. Signature
  16. Explanatory note

1Citation and commencement

These Regulations may be cited as the Deposit and Return Scheme for Scotland Amendment Regulations 2026 and come into force on the day after the day on which they are made.

2Amendment of the Deposit and Return Scheme for Scotland Regulations 2020

The Deposit and Return Scheme for Scotland Regulations 2020f1 are amended in accordance with regulations 3 to 14.

3Commencement date

In regulation 1f1 (citation and commencement)—

(a)

after paragraph (4A)f2, insert—

“(4B)

In Part 7—

(a)

regulations 30, 30A, and 31(7)(a) and (7A) come into force on 1 January 2027, in so far as they relate to the functions of the scheme administrator under Part 4,

(b)

regulation 31(11), (12) and (15) to (17) come into force on 1 January 2027, in so far as they relate to an offence committed by the scheme administrator under regulation 31(7)(a) or (7A),

(c)

the remaining provisions come into force on 1 October 2027.”.

(b)

in paragraph 5, omit “, 7”.

4Interpretation

In regulation 2(1)f1 (interpretation)—

(a)

omit the definition of “export shop”,

(b)

omit the definition of “returnable packaging” where it appears after the definition of “retail sale”,

(c)

after the definition of “return point operator”, insert—

  • ““returnable packaging” has the meaning given in regulation 3(2),”,

(d)

omit the definition of “sum equal to the deposit” where it appears after the definition of “SEPA”,

(e)

after the definition of “single-use packaging”, insert—

  • ““sum equal to the deposit” means, in relation to an item of scheme packaging in which a scheme article was contained or sold, an amount equal to the greater of the amount of the deposit—

    1. (a)

      on the date on which the item of scheme packaging is returned,

    2. (b)

      on the date on which the item of scheme packaging was supplied with a scheme article,”.

5Obligations relating to charging deposits and marketing, offering for sale or selling articles

In regulation 5(4)f1 (obligations relating to charging deposits and marketing, offering for sale or selling articles), omit paragraph (a).

6Obligations of a scheme administrator

In regulation 16(4)f1 (obligations of a scheme administrator), for “6” substitute “12”.

7Collection etc. of scheme packaging and returnable packaging from return point operators, hospitality retailers and takeback service providers and connected payment

In regulation 16A(1)(b)f1 (collection etc. of scheme packaging and returnable packaging from return point operators, hospitality retailers and takeback service providers and connected payment), insert at the end “, if the hospitality retailer requests a collection”.

8Retailer obligations

In regulation 19f1 (retailer obligations)—

(a)

omit paragraph (2)(b),

(b)

after paragraph (4), insert—

“(4A)

Where a hospitality retailer markets, offers for sale or sells a scheme article exclusively for consumption on the premises of sale, that hospitality retailer may decide not to charge a deposit under regulation 5(2)(a) for that scheme article.

(4B)

In circumstances where paragraph (4A) applies, that hospitality retailer must clearly display information on the premises of sale indicating that—

(a)

the scheme article that the hospitality retailer markets, offers for sale or sells exclusively for consumption on the premises of sale is not a scheme article for which the hospitality retailer is required to charge a deposit under these Regulations,

(b)

customers are not to remove scheme packaging from the premises of sale of the hospitality retailer.”.

9Return points

In regulation 20(2)f1 (return points), for “Subject to paragraphs (4) and (5), a”, substitute “A”.

10Hospitality retailers

Omit regulation 20Af1 (hospitality retailers).

11Effect of making an application for a return point exemption

In regulation 20ZB(1)(a)f1 (effect of making an application for a return point exemption: applications ongoing at 1st October 2027) and in regulation 20ZC(1)f2 (effect of making an application for a return point exemption: person becoming a groceries retailer on or after 1st October 2027), for “20ZA”, substitute “22(a) or (b)”.

12Offences

In regulation 31 (offences),—

(a)

in paragraph (4)f1, for “regulations 10(1)(b), (c), (d) and (3) and 11(1)(a) and (b)” substitute

“—

(a)

regulation 10(1)(a),

(b)

regulation 10(1)(b),

(c)

regulation 10(1)(c),

(d)

regulation 10(1)(d),

(e)

regulation 10(3),

(f)

regulation 11(1)(a),

(g)

regulation 11(1)(b)”,

(b)

omit paragraph (5A)f2,

(c)

in paragraph (8)f3, for the full-stop at the end of sub-paragraph (b) substitute a comma and insert—

“(c)

regulation 20ZA(4)(b),

(d)

regulation 24(4)(a),

(e)

regulation 24(4)(b).”,

(d)

in paragraph (8C)f4, for “20A” substitute “19(4B)”,

(e)

before paragraph (9B)(a)f5, insert—

“(za)

regulation 21(6),”,

(f)

omit paragraph (13).

13Amendment of schedules 1, 1A, 1B and 1C

(1)

In paragraph 3 of schedule 1 (producer registration: information to be contained in an application for producer registration), omit “as kept by Companies House”.

(2)

In paragraph 3 of each of schedule 1Af1 (information to be contained in an application for registration of a groceries retailer operating a return point), schedule 1Bf2 (information to be contained in the application for registration of a takeback service provider) and schedule 1Cf3 (information to be contained in the application for registration of a return point exemption), omit “as kept by Companies House, if applicable”.

14Amendment of schedule 1C

In paragraph 8 of schedule 1C after “layout” insert “, size”.

Signature

Name

A member of the Scottish Government

St Andrew’s House

Edinburgh

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations amend the Deposit and Return Scheme for Scotland Regulations 2020 (“the 2020 Regulations”) which make provision for the operation of a deposit and return scheme. These Regulations come into force on the day after the day on which they are made.

Regulation 3 provides for regulations 30, 30A and 31(7)(a) and (7A) of the 2020 Regulations to come into force on 1 January 2027 in so far as they relate to the functions of the scheme administrator under Part 4; regulation 31(11), (12) and (15) to (17) come into force on 1 January 2027, in so far as they relate to an offence committed by the scheme administrator under regulation 31(7)(a) or (7A); and for the remaining provisions of Part 7 to come fully into force on 1 October 2027.

Regulation 4 omits the definition of “export shop” from regulation 2(1) of the 2020 Regulations and re-inserts the definitions of “returnable packaging” and “sum equal to the deposit” in the correct positions. Regulation 5 omits regulation 5(4)(a) of the 2020 Regulations to remove the exception provisions in relation to items marketed, offered for sale or sold in export shops or exclusively for consumption on the premises of sale.

Regulation 6 amends regulation 16(4) of the 2020 Regulation to change the deadline for the submission by the scheme administrator of its annual report from 6 to 12 weeks after the end of the relevant year. Regulation 7 amends regulation 16A of the 2020 Regulations so that the requirement on the scheme administrator to collect scheme packaging from hospitality retailers applies only when the hospitality retailer has requested a collection.

Regulation 8(a) amends regulation 19 of the 2020 Regulations to remove the exemption for groceries retailers which are export shops from operating return points. Regulation 8(b) further amends regulation 19 to allow hospitality retailers to decide not to charge the deposit when they market, offer for sale or sell a scheme article exclusively for consumption on the premises of sale, and imposes obligations in such cases to display certain information to customers. Regulation 10 removes regulation 20A of the 2020 Regulations to remove the requirement on hospitality retailers to retain scheme packaging for collection.

Regulations 9, 11 and 14 correct minor errors in the 2020 Regulations. Regulation 12 amends the offences provisions in the 2020 Regulations to align with amendments to obligations in the 2020 Regulations and to correct minor errors. Regulation 13 amends paragraph 3 of schedules 1, 1A, 1B and 1C to clarify the wording.