SNP's latte levy passed, and you could be fined for using wrong bin

• Charges for single-use cups to be brought in by 2025 that will add up to 25p to cost of a coffee
• Council staff will be able to rake through bins and issue fines if wrong items are in them
• New Bill also gives councils more powers to crack down on fly-tipping and littering from cars

Scots are to face a ‘latte levy’ and fines for recycling incorrectly after a new legislation was passed by MSPs yesterday.

MSPs voted 116 votes to zero to pass the Circular Economy (Scotland) Bill, which introduces a series of measures aimed at reducing waste and also ensuring households and businesses dispose of their rubbish in the correct way.

The new laws could allow council staff to search through household bins and penalise those who don’t put plastics, cans and paper in the correct bins with fixed penalty notices which are likely to start at £60 to £80.

Climate action minister Gillian Martin sought to reassure Scots and the fines would only be handed to ‘repeat persistent offenders’, insisting it was ‘not for the people who want to do the right thing and have made a mistake’.

The law also proposes charges for single-use items such as paper coffee cups and vapes in a push to put off consumers.

Climate action minister Gillian Martin told MSPs that fines would only be handed to 'persistent offenders'

Shops are already banned from supplying single-use plastics in Scotland, but charges for other single-use items would be introduced by 2025.

Trials conducted by eco group Zero Waste Scotland, found that the so-called ‘latte levy’ would add 25p to the cost of a cup of coffee.

Ms Martin said there was a ‘real need to accelerate our efforts on the circular economy’, adding that the Bill would ‘embed’ thinking on this in the government.

‘We’re all consumers, we must play our part in reducing waste,’ she said.

‘That’s why this Bill is so far-reaching, it impacts us all from the goods we buy to what we put in our recycling bins.’

Local authorities are also expected to receive additional enforcement powers, allowing them to crack down on fly tipping and littering from cars and following the passing of a Tory amendment from Murdo Fraser, victims of fly-tipping will no longer be liable for the removal costs.

Among its measures, the legislation will also ban the disposal of unsold goods, preventing companies from sending products which have not been bought to landfill, with ministers to be given the power to set local recycling target.

The new law is expected to add as much as 25p to the cost of a takeaway coffee

Scottish Conservative MSP Maurice Golden said: ‘The Scottish Conservatives support the general principles of this bill, but it lacks the ambition we need to build a sustainable economy and to see it thrive.

‘Even after a decade of trying, the SNP still haven’t managed to deliver on their 2013 household recycling target, and their ‘new’ approach is the same strategy they have been reusing for the past 2- years.

‘That is why the Scottish Conservatives submitted amendments to ensure circular economy targets were included and real progress could be made.

‘Sadly, the SNP opposed us at every turn, going as far as opposing including a definition of what a circular economy actually is.

‘Bold and decisive action is needed to address the climate emergency and now that the extremist Greens have been removed from government I hope the SNP will take a more constructive approach to tackle this issue.’

Labour MSP Sarah Boyack agreed that the Bill was not up to scratch, when she said: ‘I don’t think the Bill is as good as it could have been.’

She added: ‘My personal view is I still think it is a missed opportunity, because the Bill is more about recycling waste management than seizing the opportunity to deliver the circular economy our constituents, our businesses and our planet needs.’

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