DRS - THE TRADE GIVE THEIR VIEWS

Lorna Slater MSP, Scottish Government, Circularity Scotland and their partners have publicly stated that they believe the industry & general public think DRS is a great solution and ready to role out. We gave an open platform for a cross section of senior people across the industry from venue owners , trade bodies , suppliers & brand owners to give their opinions on how they feel in their own words.

With only seven months until the scheme goes live businesses remain extremely concerned about DRS and its impact. Small operators, large hospitality groups and producers are still waiting for clarification on a number of key points. In many instances businesses cannot even begin to plan until they have all the answers they need.

“Businesses are already incurring costs as they attempt to prepare for the scheme. Trade Associations are a main port of call for members looking for information. However, given the complexity of the scheme and the highly specific nature of the questions, it is essential that Circularity Scotland rapidly upscales its information and advice support for businesses to ensure that as many are ready for August as possible.

“DRS represents a seismic shift in the way hospitality will need to recycle. UKHospitality Scotland is making clear to the Scottish Government, Circularity Scotland and scheme regulator SEPA, that businesses will need an extended period beyond the go live date in order to get ready. The lack of information, the scheme’s complexity and the refusal by the Scottish Government to delay DRS means that our businesses may not be fully compliant at the time of launch. This will be despite their best endeavours, so it is essential that enforcement of regulations are delayed and that businesses continue to be assisted in the months after August.

Leon Thompson UKHospitality Scotland Executive Director

Despite the many calls for Scotland’s deposit return scheme to be postponed and redesigned from not only the hospitality sector, but many other business sectors, the reality is that the scheme will go live on the 16th of August 2023.

There may be some “tweaking” of the scheme in the months to come before implementation, but all businesses affected need to start planning now. The difficulty is that the majority of operators in the hospitality sector do not fully understand how the scheme will work and the full implications this will have for their own businesses. Circularity Scotland urgently needs to raise awareness with a concerted information campaign on how the scheme will actually operate on a daily basis for the hospitality sector, especially for those in the hospitality “closedloop” scheme.

Many questions and issues raised still remain unanswered, some of these stretching back nearly 5 years when the scheme was first being developed and these need to be addressed now. Two years of Covid and the current crises have certainly diverted operators’ attention away from a number of new regulations which were put on hold. However, the start date for the deposit return scheme is fast approaching, it is inevitable, and hospitality businesses need to plan on how they will comply with the scheme – but they need clear and concise information on how Scotland’s DRS will work for them and they need it now!

Colin Wilkinson

The Scottish Licensed Trade Association

Nobody can deny that our wish is to work to a greener economy, and a more positive future for our children, but rushed policy is bad policy. We want to be able to go out to the world and be able to show them what we have achieved, not go out looking like we have failed because the scheme has been rushed. What government need to remember is that hospitality is still trying to recover after the pandemic, whilst battling with the rising cost of doing business, whether that’s recruitment, supplier costs, energy costs or the fact that we will not see the 75% rates discount in Scotland that our colleagues in England and Wales will see for 2023/24.

With approx 200 days to go before the scheme goes live in the middle of the summer season, there are probably as many unanswered questions from the sector as there are days before its launch. We have sought to have conversations with Lorna Slater, however, to date these requests have been ignored. Issues around VAT, and online take back exemptions need to be addressed and clarified; security, insurance, and how SMEs are to deal with cashflow issues.

We need to be talking positively about hospitality, and about how great the sector is already at recycling, and there needs to be a big emphasis placed on consumer education around DRS and the true costs to them over and above the 20p. The clear answer to a lot of this is the joining of a UK wide scheme due in 2025, which will cure any cross-border fraud.

Many places along the Scottish border are only a few hundred yards away from a supermarket in England, so it would be natural to assume that whilst there to buy their DRS related products, they would also do the family weekly shop, meaning less foot fall in many of our retail shops in the towns and villages along the borders, who rely on the local trade to keep going.

Stephen Montgomery Scottish Hospitality Group

We all want the DRS to work. Every hospitality operator in Scotland has always been quick to embrace environmentally conscious procedures such as recycling. It’s blatantly obvious that the DRS scheme simply isn’t ready. A UK wide approach is needed. Scotgov needs to just pause for a rethink. If you’re going to do it, do it properly.

Michael Bergson

The impending DRS should be a positive step forward for Scotland, taking the initiative in protecting our planet for future generations. Instead, the environmental impact is dubious as we already have excellent kerbside recycling and very high uptakes of packaging, especially glass.

The over riding impact will be the death of small, craft, creative businesses and the continued dominance of the larger producers. Scotland has the most amazing by creative wealth and that will be lost with no real benefit to the environment

Becky - Brand Owner Old Mother Hunt

As it currently stands The Scottish Governments Deposit Return Scheme is very confusing, ill thought out and throws up more questions than we have answers.

Namely, as we operate the closed loop who will be picking up the containers. It says on the scheme website that it will be their logistics partner and that collections will be free and happen daily, but the big unanswerable is will we get the service we require and who will that partner be?

We get paid by the logistics partner for the amount we return , but given the amount we go through, if we are let down by them, we will not have the storage space, and could face a position where, we will paying a deposit, and also paying for the collection for the disposal.

It does say that you will be able to request additional collections on our Customer Web Portal or by calling the customer call centre. There will be agreed timeframes for such collections, but no details yet.

Equally glass bins will be weighed by the collections driver and reconciled to the uplift location. Yet there is still no detail on this. If you get 20p per container, I do not understand how a bottle of beer weighs the same as a 1.5l bottle of vodka.

Also, as a group, the cost will be in what we hold to be returned. What I am trying to figure out, is if we buy stock on the day before the scheme starts, but then return it the next day empty, do we get 20p back per product? So can we make off holding our returns for a week before the scheme starts?

Each bag and tote box collected will be sealed with a security tag with a unique identifier for the return point operator so they can track its progress through the system. Glass bins will be weighed by the collections driver and reconciled to the uplift location.

The bit that I really don’t understand is how they work out the return renumeration if they are doing it by weight. It’s coming per item and going out its weight, it’s totally nonsensical.

Donald MacLeod MBE

As a relatively new producer who launched during the pandemic, the introduction of the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) will be catastrophic. We’re being bullied into signing up to the producers agreement by 17th February, without having definitive answers to critical questions, committing ourselves to be financially liable when the scheme fails. DRS is being touted by the Scottish Government as a way to reduce litter and improve the environment but without including items that are a common cause of littering the scheme is pointless. Also the impact of increased waste trucks to facilitate the collection of all scheme articles and consumers driving to return points hasn’t even been considered. To keep costs down, Shipyard Gin, like most producers order labels in bulk and our current stock should last until early 2024. The introduction of DRS would mean increased cost in producing labels for the Scottish market and then the rest of the UK separately at a time when the industry is going through one of its most challenging times yet. At the very least DRS should be delayed until a UK wide scheme can be introduced, with genuine industry consultation. It shouldn’t be used by the Scottish Government as a naïve superficial political statement to score points against Westminster. This is people’s livelihoods they’re playing with.

Andy Samuel, Shipyard Gin

As the hospitality industry is starting to get back on its feet after years of headwinds, many companies need support from the Scottish Government not only through financial means but through a collaborative approach to resource management. The DRS at the right time will be welcomed, however now is not the right time. With businesses closing every day, this could be the final straw for many who are already assessing their long term futures

Glasgow