The government launched a consultation on the possible introduction of a 25p charge on all single-use drinks cups in August 2024.
Many packaging producers have celebrated the delay, including the Federation of Independent Retailers (the Fed).
Mo Razzaq, national president of the Fed, said: “We are pleased that the government is acting on the Fed’s members’ concerns. We agree that action is needed to better protect our environment but this ‘latte levy’ is not the right way to go about it.
“Instead of adding at least 25p to the cost of disposable hot and cold drinks cups, Fed members believe that litter louts should be given heftier fines of £500 or £1,000 and community service picking up litter.”
The proposed timeline for the scheme would have seen regulation passed at the end of 2025.
However, the proposed charge was absent from Scottish first minister John Swinney’s 2025/26 programme when it was published last week.
The programme serves as the Scottish government’s annual plan and sets out its priorities and intended actions for the coming year.
The Single-use Cup Charge Advisory Group is expected to meet in early June to discuss the findings from the consultation on the charge.
Scotland has been considering such a charge for multiple years, with the scheme first having been suggested in a pledge in 2019.
The scheme was then relaunched in 2022 by Scottish circular economy minister at the time, Lorna Slater.
Slater said that the original scheme had been delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The consultation was launched in August last year and ran until November.
According to the government, over 380 million single use cups are used in Scotland every year, which is the equivalent of 71 cups per person per year – one of the highest rates compared to nations in the European Union.
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