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—the need for private finance for nature restoration is unquestioned.

The finance gap is £20 billion. There is absolutely no way that that can be fully funded from the public purse; that simply is not possible. What we need to do, and what we are working on doing, is to put in place the framework for ethical investment in the places concerned for nature restoration. That means managing the different interests and incorporating community wealth building and local input into the schemes. However, we absolutely cannot meet our targets for the climate and nature restoration without private finance. That simply would not be possible. We have to find a way of doing that ethically that supports communities.

I actually think that the problem is largely because of misunderstanding of what the scheme is and how it operates. The scheme is moving toward launch, and we have that big milestone of 95 per cent of the market, by volume, being signed up to the scheme.

The scheme is a producer responsibility scheme. That means that producers of the materials that we are collecting—the people who profit from those materials—need to ante up. They need to put it on the line and say, “Yes, we are now going to be responsible for collecting the materials, sorting them, and making sure that they are recycled properly.” That is a big shift, from using public money to do that work to putting it back on the producers. Producers that produce an enormous market volume—as I have said, it represents 95 per cent of the market—have signed on the dotted line and said, “Yes, we’re stepping up.” That is a huge milestone.

The next significant milestone is getting the return points signed up. Once Circularity Scotland and Biffa know where the return points are and how many items they expect from each return point, they can finalise their collection schedules. Circularity Scotland and Biffa are working towards the 16 August launch date.

All those pieces of the puzzle are under way. That is what we need to get the scheme launched. I know that there are still concerns among some small producers about how they participate in the scheme. We are working with them, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency and Circularity Scotland to bring them on board so that they can continue to supply the Scottish market.

That would be required to extend the deadline. However, late applications are being accepted. That has not been a hard cut-off. Businesses can still apply, and they continue to do so.

They need to register, but they can go through the process to get those labels. It was identified that redesigning packaging on the timescale given was a barrier to businesses, and Circularity Scotland came up with that really practical labelling solution so that that is no longer a barrier.

We are looking at what else we need to do with regard to the producers who have not signed up. Do they understand the package of measures that are on the table? I know that the committee took evidence from—

That is how such schemes normally work. It is the case that return points need to take bottles back and store them until they are collected. I understand that, when a retailer registers to be a return point, it enters information on how many returns it expects to receive and how much storage space it has. That allows Biffa to put in its schedule how often materials need to be collected. That is normal for retailers. They will need to be able to store materials until they can be collected.

When items are returned, they need to be stored until they can be collected. Businesses already have storage space for various recycling materials and packaging materials. What is proposed is very similar to that. It is up to each business to figure out how it can store the materials. Unless they are exempt, businesses have an obligation to be a return point if they sell the materials. Biffa and Circularity Scotland are very happy to work with businesses to find out how that will work for them.

There is no particular rule about how businesses must store the returns. They could adapt to store them behind the counter, and I have seen versions that involve having designated wheelie bins in a secure area. There is a variety of ways to adapt storage space, and businesses can make the right decisions for them.

As far as I know, the exemption will last until a business wishes it to end. I am not aware of there being a certain timeframe, but I will be very happy to come back to the committee to provide clarity if that is not the case.

No. They just need to then apply to be a return point operator. That is fine.

Those exemptions were built into the regulations. That is not new; they were already in there. We streamlined the process to make it more straightforward for businesses to apply for exemption. We have brought in Zero Waste Scotland as our partner on that. There is no change to the regulations. We are just implementing them in what we hope is an easier and more practical way.