Deputy First Minister John Swinney has stressed his government's deposit return scheme will be "implemented effectively" amid cricticism of the policy which is due to be rolled out in just six months' time.

Mr Swinney insisted the scheme remains on track to launch on August 16, but was accused of being “tin-eared” and not listening to business concerns.

Under the scheme, people will pay a 20p deposit when they buy a drink that comes in a single-use container. They will get their money back when they return the empty container to one of tens of thousands of return points.

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But concerns have been raised over costs to businesses, reduced consumer choice, as well as expected teething problems with the scheme to go live for all producers and all types of containers on the same day.

The Herald revealed that a damning review of the scheme, published in December, did not consult with any other deposit return schemes around the world.

Scottish Secretary Alister Jack has urged the Scottish Government to pause the rollout of their flagship policy, prompting speculation that the UK Government could challenge it in the courts.

Appearing on BBC Good Morning Scotland, Mr Swinney dismissed calls for the scheme to be further delayed.

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He said: “The Scottish Government's engaging in dialogue with various sectors of the business community to make sure that we get all the operational arrangements in place.

“There's been a number of changes made to the scheme to make sure that it can be implemented effectively in August of this year, and we'll continue that dialogue as ministers have made absolutely clear.

“It's vital that we make progress on the necessary interventions to tackle the climate emergency, the climate emergency is with us, it is a real and pressing problem and we have to take the steps to address it.”

Asked about the concerns raised by businesses, Mr Swinney, who is also the stand-in finance secretary, said he “encourage businesses to sign up” to the scheme.

He added: “The government will continue to listen to business and to address any practical and operational issues. And we've done that so far.

“I would encourage them to sign up and the government will continue to engage in discussions with companies as we have done throughout the development of the deposit return scheme.”

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Scottish Conservative MSP Maurice Golden said: “This is tin-eared stuff from John Swinney.

“The acting finance secretary claims he is listening and engaging with businesses over the ill-thought-out deposit return scheme.

“However, in the same breath, he then encourages them to sign up by the end of this week, without businesses having anywhere near the information they need to do so.

“That is typical of the SNP-Green government’s ‘we know best’ attitude when it comes to business.

"Struggling firms are being faced with the threat of fines if they don’t sign up to these plans, despite the scheme having so many holes in it that you could drive a bus through it.”

He added: “It is completely unacceptable to place this burden on businesses and it is clear that the deposit return scheme has unravelled.

“It is little wonder that has happened when Lorna Slater – the Green minister responsible – cannot even be bothered to engage with other countries who have set up similar schemes.

“That is a total dereliction of duty. She has totally ignored lessons from elsewhere that could have solved many of these issues before they occurred. The SNP-Green’s deposit return scheme will impose huge costs on businesses and should be paused now and urgently rethought.”