A SMALL PRICE TO PAY FOR PUTTING END TO CHOKING PILES OF RUBBISH
TODAY we expect to hear that Scotland will definitely have a deposit return system, after years of campaigning. The benefits of this move will be striking and long-lasting.
We can expect a marked reduction in the numbers of littered cans and bottles, which cause so much damage in our beautiful countryside and which often end up in our seas and lochs.
More than 130,000 plastic bottles and cans are dumped in Scotland every single day – clogging up the country’s streets, seas and parks, and killing animals, birds and marine life.
On average, anyone walking along a Scottish beach is likely to find a discarded can, bottle or plastic lid every 10ft.
And this sad state of affairs is why we, and campaigners across the country, believe a deposit return system will hugely benefit Scotland’s people, environment and wildlife.
This is a problem which has not been properly addressed by kerbside recycling or any of the other initiatives introduced, but we believe the Scottish Government’s announcement today will make a drastic improvement.
That in turn will mean a much better supply of affordable recycled materials for Scottish manufacturers to use, and more good jobs in the circular economy.
It’ll also save our councils substantial sums, especially given the unnecessary costs of litter cleanup and bin emptying.
The international evidence is also clear that it works, with more than a quarter of a billion people around the world living in places which use deposits of this sort. So it’s a perfect place for the Scottish Government to be: learning from best practice elsewhere and also setting a great example for England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The Association for the Protection of Rural Scotland’s (APRS) campaign to bring deposits has brought together some of this country’s best NGOs – including the Marine Conservation Society and Surfers Against Sewage – alongside local authorities from Aberdeenshire to Midlothian. It’s united NFRN, the trade association for independent newsagents, with retailers and businesses.
We have even seen the might of Coca-Cola swing behind the idea, making Scotland the first place anywhere in the world where it has urged government to bring in deposits. This landmark move makes Scotland the absolute heart of the global debate on recycling and litter.
AT Have You Got The Bottle? we have also been fortunate enough to have extraordinary media support, including from the Scottish Daily Mail, whose parallel Banish the Bottles campaign has set the agenda on this issue with a series of hard-hitting front pages. We are very grateful to the paper and its readers for their powerful backing on deposits, which follows the paper’s similar successes on the carrier bag charge and microbeads.
Recent research indicated deposits could result in a staggering 18million fewer cans and 21million fewer bottles littered, just in Scotland, every year.
Recycling rates for cans and plastic bottles currently languish at around 50 per cent, but within a year or two those rates could be up to 90 per cent – in Norway, which already has deposits, 95 per cent of cans and bottles are recycled.
Over the next few months, everyone with an interest in this issue needs to contribute constructively to the discussion about how this will work. What should the deposit be? Should it be the same for all cans and bottles? How small should a shop have to be to opt out?
APRS will take part in those discussions, and we will do our bit to make sure the final system learns from the best examples elsewhere, especially in Scandinavia and the Baltic countries.
We want to see retailers, producers, restaurants, hotels and the recycling industry in those discussions, alongside local government, helping Ministers come forward with the best system, suited to Scotland’s needs.
As with the carrier bag charge, this is a small financial incentive for the public to do the right thing. Many were surprised when a simple charge on bags had such a large impact, but in the first year more than 80 per cent fewer bags were handed out. We are confident we will see a similar effect after the First Minister commits Scotland to a deposit system this afternoon.
Credit will go to Nicola Sturgeon for this bold move, and to her Cabinet Secretary Roseanna Cunningham, who commissioned the design of a deposit system. Richard Lochhead, the former Cabinet Secretary, is also due his share of the glory for years of preparatory work, as are those from all four opposition parties who have helped.
There is much more to do to tackle litter and improve our environment, but this is the vital next step. On behalf of one of the broadest coalitions ever assembled in this country, do it for Scotland, First Minister!