Reconomy company to provide IT for Scottish DRS

While the formal agreements are still being put in place, Circularity Scotland said the Reconomy-owned Reverse Logistics Group (RLG) will “deliver a state-of-the-art and future-proof IT solution to manage the DRS in Scotland”.

RLG describes itself as a “tech-enabled and asset-light organisation with a highly scalable platform connecting all stakeholders within the reverse logistics value chain”.

Circularity Scotland said RLG was chosen because it has proven its ability to quickly and efficiently implement and deploy complex system rollouts in various countries globally, including India and Canada.

Patrick Wiedemann, the chief executive of RLG, said: “I believe that both the expertise and the technology we can bring to this project will support Scotland in developing a successful deposit return scheme that will help the country achieve its sustainability goals.

“With the backing of the Reconomy Group and having developed a technology that allows DRS operators to reduce costs and raise the beverage containers return rates, we believe that Scotland will benefit significantly.”

Scotland

While the DRS rollout has faced several delays in Scotland, initially planned for this year. However, the county has been keen to rollout a ‘UK-first system’.

Circularity Scotland said in the update yesterday announcing RLG as its IT partner, that “Scotland will launch the Deposit Return Scheme on 16th August 2023. It will be the first scheme in the UK to launch.”

Paul Cox, Reconomy Group CEO, said: “This is a fantastic example of the impact the Reconomy Group can make to global and local sustainability.

“Using the considerable expertise of RLG and the service capabilities across all of our divisions, this project will directly contribute to our Reconomy Group purpose of creating a truly sustainable world through conserving finite resources.”

Impact

Though little further details were given, RLG says the implementation work has already started on what will be “the most comprehensive system of its kind”.

Circularity Scotland said the DRS scheme will include all single use drinks containers made of PET plastic, metal and glass and will cover both alcoholic and soft drinks.

The scheme will not include HDPE plastic containers (the kind used for milk and some other drinks) or lined cardboard containers like Tetrapak.