— By Plasteurope.com correspondent — 

A group representing independent shops across the UK has welcomed that Scotland’s government will not be introducing a charge on single-use cups this year and urged lawmakers to take tougher action on people who discard litter instead.

The Federation of Independent Retailers (FED, Durham, UK; www.thefedonline.com) said the possibility of levying a charge of at least GBP 0.25 (EUR 0.30) on those purchasing a drink in a single-use cup “would be bad for business and would not achieve the government’s aims of cutting cup waste”.

The Scottish government launched a consultation last year to determine the viability of introducing such a charge. It said an estimated 388 mn single-use cups were used in Scotland in 2021-22, creating 5,400 t of waste. It pointed out that, following the introduction of a GBP 0.05 charge in 2014, the use of single-use plastic carrier bags fell by 80% in the first year in Scotland. 

However, the proposed charge was absent from the political programme put forward earlier this month by Scotland’s First Minister, John Swinney, leading industry observers to conclude its introduction may either be delayed or scrapped altogether.

Related: Returnable cup initiative launched in Glasgow

The FED’s national president Mo Razzaq said, “We are pleased that the government is acting on [our] members concerns. We agree that action is needed to better protect our environment, but this ‘latte levy’ is not the right way to go about it.

“Instead of adding at least 25p to the cost of disposable hot and cold drinks cups, FED members believe that litter louts should be given heftier fines of GBP 500 or GBP 1,000 and community service picking up litter.”