CIRCULARITY Scotland, the administrators of the under-fire Deposit Return Scheme, have deleted a deadline for producers on their website.
The change in text came just hours after Lorna Slater claimed that the deadline did not exist.
In an interview with the BBC’s Good Morning Scotland, the Green MSP rejected the claims from drinks firms that they needed to sign up to take part in the recycling project by the end of this week.
Ms Slater said that was “not remotely accurate.”
“There's no deadline for the programme this Friday,” she added.
READ MORE: Lorna Slater insists Deposit Return Scheme will launch in August
However, in the frequently asked questions section on their website this morning, Circularity Scotland said that while the deadline for registration is February 28, producers need to “make sure that you have begun the registration process with Circularity Scotland before 17th February to allow us to process your registration with SEPA.”
Hours later, after The Herald had pointed out the inconsistency, Circularity Scotland changed the text to read: “Make sure that you have begun the registration process with Circularity Scotland as soon as possible to allow us to process your registration with SEPA.”
Scottish Tory MSP Maurice Golden said: “Lorna Slater’s deposit return scheme is lurching from one shambles to another at what seems like an hourly rate.
"In the morning, she was contradicting Circularity Scotland’s published – and widely publicised – deadline on the radio. Later in the day, their website had been changed.
“If the minister and others bringing this scheme in can’t even get something as basic as this straight, what possible hope is there of them fixing the huge number of incredibly complex problems that remain, on their rushed and botched timetable?
“This project must be paused at once so it can get sorted out by someone with a grip on the issues.”
READ MORE: Speculation UK Government could block SNP-Green Deposit Return Scheme
A spokeswoman for Circularity Scotland said: “There has been no change to SEPA’s producer registration date. Producers can either register directly with SEPA or have Circularity Scotland do this for them on their behalf.
“We had originally asked producers registering for the scheme through Circularity Scotland to do this by 17th Feb in order to provide sufficient time to meet their obligations to be registered with SEPA by 28th Feb (on or before).
“Following discussions with SEPA we have now been able to agree that businesses registering through Circularity Scotland by 28th February will also be able to meet SEPA’s deadline.”
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