Former Green minister Lorna Slater has been named in court papers submitted by recycling firm Biffa over the botched deposit return scheme (DRS).
The waste management company bought around 200 new trucks and had started recruiting staff when Lorna Slater announced a two-and-a-half-year delay to the scheme.
They have now launched a legal action in a bid to claw back some of that cash.
According to the Sunday Mail, Biffa relied on personal assurances from Ms Slater as a reason to invest £55million in vehicles and equipment to prepare for the DRS.
READ MORE: Biffa threatens to sue Scottish Government over deposit return scheme
A source said the recycling firm believes the Scottish government "negligently misrepresented the assurance it gave" and "made no reference to any outstanding need to seek UK Internal Market Act approval.”
At the time, Ms Slater, who was the circular economy minister, blamed the UK Government after ministers in Whitehall made clear the Scottish Government would only be given the necessary exemption to the UK Internal Market Act if they made substantial changes.
This included removing glass from the scheme, standardised labelling and the same deposit charge across the UK.
Ms Slater said the lack of detail around conditions laid down by Whitehall, including not knowing what that deposit charge would need to be, meant the scheme could not go ahead as planned.
However, Circularity Scotland (CSL), the industry-led body behind the DRS, insisted that the scheme could have complied with the UK Government's demands and launched next year.
Biffa was appointed to collect all the recycled containers across Scotland on a 10-year deal, with the firm expecting to make more than £100million profit.
The Sunday Mail reports that Biffa is seeking not only a return of its £55 million but also compensation for lost profits.
A spokeswoman for Biffa said: "We can confirm we are taking legal action to seek appropriate compensation for the losses Biffa has incurred.”
A Scottish Government spokesman said: "The Scottish Government. can't comment on ongoing litigation."
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