Deposit return scheme body’s huge debts revealed

The body set up to run the UK’s first deposit return scheme collapsed owing creditors nearly £90m, documents have revealed.

According to Companies House figures, Circularity Scotland Limited had racked up debts of £86.2m when it entered administration last month.

The company, which was appointed the scheme’s administrator in 2021, was backed by shareholders including major retailers and the UK’s leading drinks producers. However, it went into administration after the scheme was delayed until at least October 2025.

The documents show company set up to administer the scheme had assets of just £2m.

The massive debt pile includes £65m owed to waste management giant Biffa, which had been selected as CSL’s delivery partner.

Meanwhile, the BSDA is owed more than £3m.

Supermarkets and suppliers behind CSL had hoped the body would serve as a model for the rest of the UK, but instead found themselves investing tens of millions in a scheme brought down amid both huge political disagreements between Westminster and the Scottish government, as well as major rifts among retailers and suppliers over how it should operate.

A Scottish government spokesperson said it had been left with “no choice” but to postpone the launch.

“We are grateful to businesses for the investment made,” they said. “The Scottish government remains committed to the delivery of a successful scheme and the investment made to date can be utilised in the future.

“We do not consider the action we have been required to take gives rise to any obligation to pay compensation.”

However, rather than being effectively a trial run for a UK rollout, the disastrous experience of DRS north of the border has heightened fears over the future of a DRS scheme elsewhere.

Last week a report by Whitehall’s Infrastructure & Projects Authority said the scheme faced a high risk of failure, giving it a “red rating” alongside the government’s other supposed landmark environmental policy of extended producer responsibility, which was last week shelved until at least October 2025.