The £22 million package includes the complete scrapping of charges from day one of the scheme, down from three weeks worth of fees, up to a threshold of three million units per year.
The government is also providing two month credit terms on deposits and fees up to the same volume threshold, “to reduce the working capital impact on all producers”.
The two month credit terms will be made available to all producers, regardless of their size, ensuring all producers within the scheme are treated equally.
Circularity Scotland has also confirmed that it will be offering the option to use self-adhesive barcode labels for producers placing less than 25,000 units per year of a specific product on to the Scottish market.
“This will provide a simple and straightforward administrative solution for independent producers and importers for whom the cost of changing packaging to introduce new barcodes could be prohibitive,” the scheme administrator said.
The changes come on the back of those made in December, where the Green SNP Lorna Slater, the architect of the scheme in Scotland, announced a string of measures to soften the rollout of the DRS, in order to meet the 2023 deadline (see letsrecycle.com story).
Criticism
The moves come amid growing criticism of the scheme from producers both large and small across the UK, while even some SNP politicians have been critical (see letsrecycle.com story).
This was acknowledged by Ms Slater in her statement accompanying the announcement. She said the changes “respond” directly to many of the concerns that have been raised, particularly those from smaller producers like craft brewers.”
Ms Slater added: “It addresses initial cash flow challenges, and provides a pragmatic and simple solution to the issues raised around barcodes for smaller product lines. This is a package that gives businesses the clarity and confidence they need to be part of Scotland’s deposit return scheme.
“Over the last few months I have been meeting industry regularly to listen to their feedback and this industry-led solution has been designed in direct response to its concerns. I remain committed to a pragmatic approach to implementation between now and the 16 August. By working together we can lead the UK in delivering a deposit return scheme which will increase Scotland’s recycling rates from around 50% to 90%, cut emissions, tackle littering and address public concerns about the impact of plastic and other waste.”
Elements
The Scottish government will be hoping that the changes to credit terms on deposits and producers fees, removing day one charges and introducing new barcodes will be enough to appease producers, who have been growing in frustration ahead of the August deadline.
The three elements of support, the Scottish government said, are provided up to a threshold of 3,000,000 single use drinks containers (known as scheme articles) put on the Scottish market per year.
This level has been established to ensure that the thousands of smaller scale producers selling in Scotland “benefit more proportionately” from the cashflow support.
We know that smaller producers have been concerned and these measures will address those concerns
- David Harris, chief executive of Circularity Scotland
‘Innovative’
David Harris, chief executive of Circularity Scotland said: “This announcement is further evidence of how we are continuing to innovate and identify additional ways to mitigate the pressure on businesses. We know that smaller producers in particular have been concerned about the cashflow impacts of the scheme, and these measures will address those concerns.
“Circularity Scotland has successfully secured over £100m of third-party funding to establish the infrastructure of the deposit return scheme, with only minimal up-front funding from the very largest producers. This funding approach allows producers both large and small to benefit on equal terms from this investment in world-class infrastructure and leading-edge technology and only pay their share of the costs once the scheme is in operation.”
The further reduction in fees for many producers means that they have been reduced by around 40% since the legislation was first rolled out.
Subscribe for free