Environmental campaigners have criticised the UK government for undermining Scotland’s deposit return scheme (DRS), calling it an “environmental travesty”. The charity City to Sea, which
advocates for measures to combat plastic pollution, has called for a unified deposit scheme across the devolved nations. However, Westminster’s delayed deposit scheme is only due to come into force in 2025, seven years after it was first promised. The Scottish DRS is set to begin in August and is part of the SNP-Scottish Green party coalition deal. The Scottish government has requested a trade exemption for the scheme, which UK government ministers have indicated they will deny, to the consternation of campaigners.
The DRS has support among both consumers and businesses, with 83% of respondents in a 2021 consultation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland expressing support. The scheme, which would add a 20p deposit to single-use bottles and cans, would allow consumers to reclaim this sum by returning the items to be recycled. The Welsh government is introducing a comprehensive scheme, including glass bottles. Unlike the Scottish scheme, the UK government’s deposit scheme will not include glass.
Across the UK, around 13 billion plastic drinks bottles are used annually, with only 7.5 billion recycled. The remainder are either incinerated, landfilled, or littered. Each day, UK consumers use an estimated 38.5 million plastic bottles. Campaigners have noted that delaying the DRS increases the amount of plastic waste that will end up in the ocean. Other countries, including Slovakia, have successfully introduced deposit schemes. In its first five months of operation, Slovakia’s scheme led to the return of 100 million plastic bottles and metal cans.
Environmental groups have warned that blocking the Scottish scheme could have “environmental, economic, and legal implications” across the UK. The Association for the Protection of Rural Scotland has called any attempt to undermine the scheme a threat to broader circular economy ambitions. Despite the Scottish DRS being different to the one planned by Westminster, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs previously stated that “Scotland is moving forward with its own DRS delivery. We will continue to work across all four nations on how the schemes interact”. Photo by Michal Maňas, Wikimedia commons.