Plastic bottle deposit schemes could threaten the investment made by local authorities in infrastructure and collection services, the packaging industry has warned.
Concerns over the impact of deposit schemes were raised by Paul Vanston, chief executive of packaging research body INCPEN, at a ‘Future of Waste’ event in London last week held by accountancy firm BDO.
Plastic bottle deposit schemes could threaten the investment made by local authorities
The seminar saw a panel of sector experts discuss the pros and cons of a bottle deposit scheme. The panel was chaired by Countryfile’s Tom Heap, and consisted of Mark Crossley CFO of Standard Gas Holdings, David Newman president of World Biogas Association, Paul Vanston, Nigel Aitchinson, head of environment at Foresight Group, and Henry Chown, campaign assistant at Friends of the Earth.
Councils
Commenting on the impact of deposit schemes, Mr Vanston said: “If you think about it, councils up and down the country, and I’m talking about the UK now, have put in place a huge amount of infrastructure supported by investments, energy from waste and recycling investments, and collection services.
“Think about it yourself, if you have got a 10p deposit on a bottle you have bought, are you as a person who bought it going to put it into your recycling bin at home or instead take it back to claim your deposit?”
Mr Vanston remarked that there is conflicting evidence on whether a deposit scheme for bottles would work and that practicalities which should be considered had been raised in a letter from Roseanna Cunningham, environment secretary for Scotland, regarding proposals for a bottle deposit scheme in Scotland.
The packaging expert went on to emphasise that councils face the prospect of “cherry-picking” of materials with deposit schemes, undermining finances for councils – “if all these valuable bottles go somewhere else, they can’t get that money.”
The warning comes after LARAC last month expressed concerns over a ‘deposit return’ style incentive scheme for plastic bottles, which it claimed could make council recycling services less efficient (see letsrecycle.com story).
‘Nudge’
Think about it yourself, if you have got a 10p deposit on a bottle you have bought, are you as a person who bought it going to put it into your recycling bin at home or instead take it back to claim your deposit?
Paul Vanston
INCPEN
Countryfile’s Tom Heap questioned the panel as to whether a plastic bottle deposit scheme might be useful in helping to ‘nudge’ people to change their behaviour in a way similar to the impact of the plastic bag charge.
Friends of the Earth was very interested in the idea, said Mr Chown. “It’s actually something we’ve been looking at in quite a lot of detail.” He compared the idea to a coffee cup deposit scheme which has also been considered by the pressure group.
Mr Chown explained that consideration had to be given to what the process entails, such as the environmental impact of washing the cups. However, the Foe campaigner emphasised that while introducing a coffee cup scheme might not be as simple as it seems, it would work.
Some of those present at the BDO event also expressed concerns that bottle deposit schemes could incentivise waste crime.
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Source: letsrecycle.com Plastic
