NEWS SPECIAL
DEPOSIT RETURN SCHEME MARK BRILL, VICE PRESIDENT SALES AND MARKETING, TOMRA COLLECTION SOLUTIONS UK & IRELAND.
DRS BECOMES LAW – SO WHAT NEXT? THE SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT VOTED TO PASS DEPOSIT RETURN SCHEME (DRS) LEGISLATION INTO LAW LAST WEEK. WE CAUGHT UP WITH TOMRA’S MARK BRILL TO FIND OUT WHAT’S NEXT FOR RETAILERS.
SO, DRS IS NOW PASSING INTO LAW?
HOW MANY OTHER COUNTRIES GLOBALLY HAVE A DRS SYSTEM?
Yes, on 13 May the Scottish Parliament voted in favour of passing DRS legislation into law. This means that Scotland’s DRS is set to launch in 2022.
Around the world, deposit return schemes are a tried and tested way of achieving high recycling rates. In total there are about 40 countries/regions which operate a DRS, including countries such as Norway, Sweden, Germany, and Croatia. DRS is also used in most Canadian provinces, 10 US states, and large parts of Australia.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? A Scheme Administrator will be appointed in the next few month. They will be responsible for the operational aspects of the scheme. Once the Administrator has been established, we expect more details about the scheme to be made available, well ahead of the start date.
WHICH MATERIALS ARE INCLUDED IN THE SCOTTISH SCHEME? The scheme will include PET plastic bottles (such as most fizzy drinks and water bottles), steel and
WHEN DOES DRS COME INTO FORCE IN SCOTLAND? The ‘go live’ date for the scheme has been set as 1 July 2022.
WHAT STAGE IS THE REST OF THE UK AT? The rest of the UK is set to introduce a DRS in 2023. Introducing the scheme is part of DEFRA’s Environment Bill which is currently passing through parliament. A second public consultation is due during 2020, to assess the scheme design in more detail.
WEDNESDAY 20TH MAY 2020 / ISSUE 5 / SLRMAG.CO.UK / 21
