Drinks giant Coca Cola Great Britain has backed the potential introduction of a deposit return scheme (DRS) for bottles and cans in Scotland, putting it at odds with councils and retailers who oppose the measure.
Coca Cola GB, which in 2015 was among a group of major brands to urge caution over the adoption of a deposit scheme in the country (see letsrecycle.com story), has this week said it would support a ‘well-thought-through’ deposit system.
Coca Cola Great Britain has voiced its support for a ‘well-thought-through’ deposit system for bottles and cans in Scotland
Deposit systems see customers pay a small cash deposit when they buy a drink in a can or bottle, and get the money back when they return the item to a collection point. Back in 2015 a Eunomia report for the Scottish government suggested that a deposit scheme could work alongside the existing packaging recovery note system, and called for further public debate over the issue.
Expenditure for the scheme, of about £15 million, would be offset by the revenue from the sale of material collected through the deposit system, estimated at between £19.7 to £22 million, unclaimed deposits (£23.9 to £35.9 million) and fees from producers.
Review
The policy measure has been in the spotlight in recent weeks, with a number of organisations calling for the UK government to review deposit schemes as a potential measure to boost recycling and reduce litter.
Among them is the Daily Mail which last month launched a campaign calling for the introduction of a DRS for plastic bottles in England, whilst organisations including the Campaign for Rural England, Marine Conservation Society and Greenpeace also support the concept.
Ministers in Scotland have been keen to trial the introduction of a DRS for a number of years, and pilot projects have been carried out by the waste and resources Zero Waste Scotland to examine the feasibility of introducing such a system. Discussions are still ongoing as to whether the scheme could be rolled-out permanently.
Design
Commenting this week on the potential for a deposit scheme on cans and bottles in Scotland, a spokesperson for Coca-Cola Great Britain, said: “It’s already clear from our conversations with experts that the time is right to trial new interventions such as a well-designed deposit return scheme for drinks containers, starting in Scotland where conversations are underway.”
Despite interest in Scotland, in England ministers have been less open to the possibility of the potential for the introduction of a DRS. In April 2016 the then Defra minister Rory Stewart admitted he had ‘uncertainties’ over the benefit of such a scheme when questioned in Parliament (see letsrecycle.com story).
The issue has also been raised with Mr Stewart’s Defra successor, Therese Coffey, who recently met with the British Plastics Federation, which has publicly stated its objection to the introduction of a DRS on plastic bottles.
Among the arguments against the introduction of a DRS system is the likely impact that it would have on material collected through local authority recycling collections. Many councils derive an income through plastic bottles collected from households, and a DRS could mean that fewer bottles are captured through existing local authority collection systems.
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Source: letsrecycle.com Plastic
