A “significant intervention” from the Scottish Government will reduce the costs involved with the deposit return scheme, the organisation implementing the initiative has insisted.

Circularity Scotland chief executive David Harris also said minister Lorna Salter is “considering industry’s concerns” about the scheme – which is due to come into force next August.

It will see shoppers pay a 20p deposit any time they buy a drink in a can or bottle. However, industry leaders warned charges associated with the scheme could mean consumers having to pay as much as 30p more.

More than 500 leading figures from businesses across the food, drink and hospitality sector signed a letter to Slater, the circular economy minister, calling for the deposit return scheme to be paused so it can be revised.

Blair Bowman, the whisky consultant and broker responsible for the letter, warned some smaller drinks firms might stop selling their products in Scotland because of the additional costs and paperwork.

He said: “I’ve already had phone calls with producers here who are heartbroken that they are actually considering stopping selling their products in Scotland, their home market, because of this system.”

Want to see more SNP fails? – Health Matters