The materials in scope of Scotland’s DRS include soft and alcoholic drinks sold in single-use containers between 50ml and three litres and made from plastic, glass, aluminium and steel.
Businesses making or importing drinks for sale in Scotland must register with SEPA before 1 March, either directly or via Circularity Scotland. Registration is open now.
The regulator says it will publish and maintain a list of all producers who are registered to market and sell their drinks in Scotland after the deadline.
The scheme goes live on 16 August, when producers will charge a 20p deposit on each container they place on the market and must arrange for empties to be collected for recycling.
SEPA says it will carry out audits, inspections and support producers to achieve compliance once the scheme goes live.
Behaviour change
Jo Zwitserlood, SEPA’s head of materials, said: “Scotland’s deposit return scheme supports a move away from a throwaway culture and gives producers a leading role in that behaviour change as they will be responsible for the environmental impacts of their products throughout their life cycle. This is a significant step towards developing a more circular economy.
This is a significant step towards developing a more circular economy– Jo Zwitserlood, SEPA’s head of materials
“We are here to help throughout this change and have lots of guidance available on the scheme, information on which drinks are part of it and help with creating operational plans.
“While we expect most businesses to register via Circularity Scotland, we stand ready to support those who wish to register directly with SEPA.”
Retailers
Retailers, wholesalers and hospitality businesses in Scotland must also comply with the DRS regulations, though do not have to register.
Their obligations include selling drinks from a registered producer, including the 20p deposit on each drink sold and acting as a return point, SEPA says.
Retailers, wholesalers and hospitality businesses will be able to check SEPA’s list of registered producers to ensure they only sell scheme-approved products, the regulator says.
DRS
All four UK nations have announced that they will introduce a DRS for beverage containers by 2025, with Scotland’s set to be the first. SEPA says that by 2025 it will capture 90% of all drink containers included in the scheme, which is expected to provide two billion drink containers a year for recycling.
Scotland and Wales will include aluminium, glass, plastic and steel containers in their DRS systems, but England and Northern Ireland will exclude glass.
Following concerns businesses would not be ready for the DRS to go live in August, the Scottish Government announced plans scaling back the scheme in December, including cutting producer fees and exempting many smaller retailers (see letsrecycle.com story).
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