Scotland’s planned 2021 DRS launch sparks heated debate on inclusion of glass bottles

09 May 2019 --- The Scottish Government has laid out plans for an “ambitious” 20p Deposit-Return Scheme (DRS) that will include aluminum and steel cans, as well as drinks containers made of glass and PET, as part of its plans to combat climate change. The DRS – which is expected to launch in 2021 – is based on “successful international equivalents” and will be widely accessible, with all shops which sell packaged beverages offering deposit refunds to customers. Draft legislation for the new DRS will be published later this year.

While industry and NGOs generally welcome the introduction of the DRS, some have questioned the inclusion of glass bottles, which reports suggest could result in an additional £50m (US$65m) annual operating cost.

In a preliminary response to the Scottish Government announcement, the Scottish Retail Consortium’s (SRS) Head of Policy, Ewan MacDonald-Russell, warned that the “disappointing design may make a successful DRS unachievable.”

“We are concerned the disappointing design unveiled by Ministers may make that unachievable. The inclusion of glass will add an additional £50 million (US$65 million) per annum to the cost of running a DRS; a cost that will end up being paid by consumers. Glass is a difficult, bulky and heavy material to manage and will be an enormous burden, especially for those operating from smaller stores,” he says.

British Soft Drinks Association (BSDA) Director-General, Gavin Partington, echoes this concern, stating: “The inclusion of glass raises costs and introduces a complexity which creates unnecessary risk to the successful launch of a DRS in Scotland.”

Another concern is that the inclusion of glass is ill-advised because kerbside glass collection schemes are already considered effective and plastic bottles should be the “absolute focus” for the DRS.

“The existing kerbside glass collection scheme is effective and widely used, and we’d encourage the Scottish Government to focus their efforts on the immediate need to recycle plastics,” notes Richard Walker, Managing Director at Iceland.

“Furthermore, a scheme incorporating glass would put further pressure on high street retailers due to the size and scope of equipment required to recycle glass, and the requirement to manage additional health and safety concerns.”

“As well as this, the recycling of glass would have the inevitable consequence of diverting footfall from an already precarious high street, due to the customer inconvenience of recycling heavy glass bottles in stores without parking,” he adds.

However, the inclusion of glass was welcomed in some quarters. For example, Truls Haug, Managing Director of TOMRA Collection Solutions UK & Ireland, believes that the scheme should have as a few restrictions as possible in order to generate the best return rates.

“For that reason, we welcome the inclusion of glass in a DRS for Scotland. I can confirm that TOMRA will have a small footprint machine for convenience stores that can accept PET, can and glass ready for the Scottish rollout. This will have an even smaller footprint than those being trailed in Scotland today,” Haug says.

Calls for a pan-UK approach
The SRS has also warned that “charging ahead” with a Scotland-only scheme rather than working collaboratively on a pan-UK approach may affect the range and price of those products in scope.

For example, to prevent fraud, Scottish drink containers will need to be labeled differently from those in the rest of the UK, which will impose “enormous costs on retailers and producers, and could even place a question mark over the economic viability of selling some products north and south of the border.”

A nation-wide DRS is one component of the UK’s Resource and Waste strategy consultations, which launched in February and will run until mid-May.

Meanwhile, BSDA voiced concerns about the feasibility of introducing a well-designed and effective Scottish 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,” says Partington.

The UK Federation of Small Businesses also questioned the design of the DRS because it rules out an exemption for the smallest shops. “A bottle deposit scheme is undoubtedly a popular idea. But it is understandable that those that run the very smallest shops have concerns about storage,” comments Colin Borland, FSB Director of Devolved Nations.

“That’s why we’ve been working with officials, underlining the importance of an opt-out for those without appropriate capacity. We’re unhappy that the Scottish Government hasn’t taken on board our concerns, despite a commitment to address the problems such a scheme poses for small retailers. Ministers need to explain to those that run the smallest shops how this scheme will work for them,” he adds.

The NGO response
Zero Waste Scotland – which helped advise the Scottish Government on the DRS blueprint – called the new scheme a “game-changer” for recycling and the development of a circular economy in Scotland.

“By giving people an extra incentive to do something good for our environment, and having a consistent approach across Scotland, we are confident it will be easier for all of us to do the right thing. This will improve the volume and quality of recycling and help tackle litter in the process,” says Jill Farrell, Chief Operating Officer of Zero Waste Scotland.

“Just as the carrier bag charge was a success from the start, we are confident that a DRS will work for the public, for business and for local government,” adds John Mayhew, Director of APRS, which runs the “Have You Got The Bottle” campaign. “Ministers take pride in the carrier bag charge decision to this day, just as they should be proud of today’s announcement, and a Scottish DRS will set the agenda for England, Wales and Northern Ireland too.”

By Joshua Poole