Return handling fees increased for Scottish DRS

The DRS will go live in August, when a 20p deposit will be applied on all single-use drinks containers made from PET plastic, metal and glass and sold in Scotland.

Under the scheme, retailers and businesses across Scotland will act as return points. The handling fee is the amount they will be paid per container to cover their operational costs.

Circularity Scotland says the handling fees have been recalculated following an independent assessment from accountancy PwC, which considered inflation and the impact of recently announced changes to the Scottish Government’s guidance around exemptions for return points (see letsrecycle.com story).

Fees

Retailers will be able to choose whether they operate their return service through the installation of an automated reverse vending machine or a system of manual collection and return.

Retailers operating reverse vending machines will now receive 3.7p rather than 3.55p for each of the first 8,000 containers they receive each week. They will then receive 1.6p rather than 1.35p for each additional container.

For manual returns, retailers will continue to receive 2.69p per container. Retailers who operate a ‘closed loop system’, whereby their customers only consume the drinks they sell on site, will continue to receive 0.13p.

The Scottish Government announced that it had appointed Circularity Scotland, a not-for-profit body representing a combination of drinks producers, trade associations and retailers, as the scheme administrator in March 2021.

Preparation

David Harris, Circularity Scotland’s chief executive, said: “We’re focused on delivering a deposit return scheme that works for businesses of all sizes and delivers for Scotland.

These changes will not increase the total scheme implementation costs or producer fee
– David Harris, Circularity Scotland’s chief executive

“We will continue to work closely with industry, helping them to prepare for the scheme and ensuring that the scheme runs as efficiently and at as low cost as possible from August 2023.

“These changes will not increase the total scheme implementation costs or producer fee.”

Circularity Scotland says increasing the handling fee is the “latest step” in its work to help businesses prepare for the scheme.