The Scottish government yesterday outlined details about its planned deposit return scheme for single-use drinks containers.
The first national scheme in the UK will include aluminium and steel cans as well as drinks containers made of glass and Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic, with a 20p deposit.
The scheme is based on international equivalents and will be widely accessible, with all shops which sell drinks offering deposit refunds to customers. Retailers will be able to decide on whether to collect returns via reverse vending machines or manually over the counter.
Environment Secretary Roseanna Cunningham said: “Scotland was the first part of the UK to commit to a deposit return scheme as part of our wider efforts to prevent discarded drinks containers from ending up in our streets and seas, and is now the first to outline its design – one that is ambitious in scale and scope, and which gives the people of Scotland a clear and straightforward way to do their bit for the environment.”
The Scottish government intends to introduce legislation later this year for its implementation. Once the regulations are passed by the Scottish Parliament, there will then be an implementation period of at least 12 months before the scheme is established.
Small shops won’t be exempt from the new scheme, leading to concerns that these businesses will lose valuable shelf space to install return machines, whilst having to oversee refunds and handle returned packaging.
ACS Chief Executive, James Lowman, said: “The Scottish government is designing a deposit return scheme that won’t be safe, clean or practical for small retailers. Manual handling of packaging in small shops will lead to huge challenges, with a lack of space to store returned containers, hygiene problems from handling dirty containers, staff having to deal with hundreds of returned containers every day, and as a result queuing and disruption to the daily running of stores.
“Requiring all retail outlets, including small shops, to act as a return point is an inefficient approach – we continue to argue that return points should be strategically mapped based on consumer need and controlling the costs of operating this network. High streets and neighbourhood parades will needlessly be awash with multiple automated and manual return points unnecessarily burdening hard pressed retailers.”
British Soft Drinks Association director general Gavin Partington also raised concerns. He said: “The decision to adopt an ‘all-in’ model encompassing all retailers is preferable, as our analysis shows that this option has the best chance of increasing recycling rates.
“However, international best practice also suggests that the deposit level should be determined by the management company on the basis of what is needed to drive returns. In setting a fee level in advance, the Scottish government is diminishing the scope of the system to adapt according to need. The inclusion of glass raises costs and introduces a complexity which creates unnecessary risk to the successful launch of a DRS in Scotland.
“We also remain concerned about the feasibility of introducing a well-designed and effective DRS in such a short timeframe. We urge the Scottish government to reconsider its proposed timescale. We continue to believe a GB-wide full DRS for all plastic and can beverage containers remains the best way to increase recycling levels.”
