The criticism came from the Resource Management Association Scotland (RMAS), which represents Scotland’s SME resource and waste management companies.
RMAS claimed that small waste firms will be hit because hospitality businesses currently serviced by multiple operators across the Scottish waste management sector will have “no alternative but to accept Biffa’s services for the collection of all qualifying drinks containers” (see letsrecycle.com story).
However, the scheme administrator Circularity Scotland has challenged these claims. A spokesperson for the organisation told letsrecycle.com that “clearly drinks containers are only one element of the materials that make up household and business waste in Scotland and DRS will not affect collection of these materials”.
Biffa also spoke out against RMAS’ criticism that its involvement in the Scottish DRS might negatively impact on small and medium enterprises north of the border. A spokesperson for the company told letsrecycle.com that recruitment is “well underway” for an additional 500 people to work on DRS, on top of the 300 people Biffa currently employs in Scotland.
“We’re also actively engaged with a number of small and medium organisations in Scotland to help us deliver parts of the scheme,” they added.
‘Efficient DRS’
Circularity Scotland reasoned that Biffa was appointed as the official logistics partner for the DRS in Scotland after a “full and robust bidding process, which included smaller Scottish based operators”. They explained that Biffa was selected as a result of their “unparalleled expertise in supporting large scale and complex recycling schemes across the world”.
The Circularity Scotland spokesperson added that it is “committed” to delivering as efficient and cost-effective DRS as possible, saying: “We are actively working with recycling, waste and logistics providers across Scotland to identify opportunities to work in partnership and utilise existing collection arrangements.”
Emissions
RMAS also reasoned in its criticism that the scheme and only having Biffa as logistics partner could lead to higher emissions if longer journeys are needed to collect material.
This however was dismissed by Biffa, who said its logistics contract for the DRS “includes an obligation to reduce carbon activity for the delivery of the service”. The emission savings are also expected to come from an increase in recycled plastic and aluminium against the baseline of using raw materials.
Circularity Scotland is in regular contact with Scottish councils’ waste management teams “about synergies with their recycling networks”, the spokesperson explained. This is hoped to help keep costs and well as emissions from the collection vehicles low.
Investment
RMAS also received backing from a number of cross-party MSPs in its call today for the Scottish DRS to be “realigned and rolled out in tandem with schemes being planned in England and Northern Ireland”. These are scheduled to launch more than two years after Scotland’s planned launch in August 2023.
On that, the Biffa spokesperson reasoned that “£80 million is being invested in infrastructure, including opening processing centres in Motherwell, Aberdeen, Thurso, Inverness, Dundee and Grangemouth to count, sort and bale the plastic, glass and aluminium drinks containers collected through the scheme. “Work has already started on most of these sites and several counting machines have already been delivered,” they outlined.
A spokesperson for Circularity Scotland, too, urged for the scheme “to go ahead without delay”. They noted it is being introduced to boost Scotland’s recycling rates and to help with littering, which is present in 95% of volunteer surveys of beaches in Scotland, according to Marine Conservation Society.
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