The Scottish Wholesale Association has welcomed the news that the DRS will be delayed until next spring.

SWA chief executive Colin Smith said, "We welcome the First Minister's announcement of a 10-month delay and his continued commitment to support small businesses impacted by the scheme.

"We await the Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity's speech on Thursday when we will get further details of plans to simplify the scheme and what that will mean for Scotland's wholesale sector.

"It's now essential that the Scottish Government, CSL, Seap and business work together so we can address the myriad practical issues still standing in the way of a workable DRS being launched in March.

"SWA has been pushing hard for a de-minimis approach to ensure wholesalers putting small volumes of a product on to the market aren't hit hard by DRS and consumer choice isn't reduced significantly. We believe that approach would help small importers but it would also reduce the numbers of producers CSL has to deal with, thereby simplifying and de-risking Scotland's DRS."