The open letter was coordinated by the association and signed by more than 60 businesses. It was addressed to the Welsh climate change minister Julie James, who recently reiterated her ambition for the Welsh DRS to include glass (see letsrecycle.com story).
The letter argues that the inclusion of glass in the DRS could have “detrimental consequences” for Welsh businesses, creating a divergence between Wales and the rest of the UK
The letter emphasises that incorporating glass in Wales’ DRS may result in the withdrawal of specific beverage products from the market across all UK nations due to the intricacy and cost of managing differing schemes.
William Watkins, managing director of drinks producer Radnor Hills, said: “A DRS system can only operate successfully if it is designed to work across all of the UK. There are problems of collection, storage and extra reverse vending machines required for glass bottles, which make the material unsuitable for DRS.
“As the vast majority of the UK will operate without glass, any Welsh scheme designed, that did not have interoperability at its heart, would be madness. Glass, therefore, must be removed from the scope of DRS in Wales.”
Wales already has a world-leading recycling system in operation
- Dave Dalton, chief executive of British Gas
Recycling
Additionally, according to British Glass, including glass poses a potential risk to Wales’ “world-leading recycling system”, which presently boasts an 87.3% collection rate for the material.
The association said including glass in the DRS could undermine this achievement by introducing a convoluted system where glass packaging for food and beverages would be divided into two separate waste streams, leading to increased complexity for consumers in terms of recycling.
Speaking following the publication of the open letter, British Glass’ chief executive Dave Dalton said: “Wales already has a world-leading recycling system in operation – a system that already collects 87.3% of glass bottles and jars through household collections. By pressing ahead with a scheme that diverges from the rest of the UK, the Welsh Government threatens all progress on glass recycling.
“For businesses this has the potential to genuinely impact their ability to operate, or worse, cause them to exit the Welsh market altogether – bringing the axe to consumer choice in Wales.”
The hyperlink in the opening line: “The open letter was coordinated…” does not work. It appears to be a filepath on Hayley’s computer. I would suggest altering this!
Thank you for letting us know. We have altered the link and it should be working now!