Revealed, the 20p charge that heralds a green revolution
Bottle deposit plans outlined by ministers
A REFUNDABLE charge of up to 20p will be added to the price of canned and bottled drinks under radical plans to clean up seas, beaches and streets.
Ideas for a deposit return scheme were published by ministers yesterday — a year after the Scottish Daily Mail launched the Banish the Bottles campaign to tackle the scourge of plastic waste.
The latest proposals could spark a recycling revolution.
Officials estimate that up to 80 per cent of all containers will be returned to the place of purchase or collection points, where customers will be paid back the deposit of 10p-20p.
Detailed designs for four possible systems were outlined by the Scottish Government yesterday.
A three-months consultation with the public will follow before ministers decide which system to adopt. It means that the final scheme could be up and running by the end of next year or early 2020.
At a launch event in Motherwell yesterday, Environment Secretary Roseanna Cunningham said: ‘Publishing these options is a significant step forward in our work to tackle plastic pollution. A deposit return scheme will provide a new, secure source of high-quality material to develop our recycling infrastruc and create jobs.’
She said the Government has listed four options. One is a 20p deposit on plastic and glass items, with 1,000 collection points nationwide for empties.
Similar schemes in the US and Australia have seen 60 per cent of containers returned and recycled – only a slight improvement.
A second option for a 20p charge on bottles, cans, cartons and some cups, refundable at drop-off centres or 2,000 points in larger stores, could achieve 70 per cent recycling.
Option three for a 10p deposit on bottles and cans returned to drinks retailers – around 17,000 shops – could encourage four in every five empties to be returned, according to the Government.
The fourth option of 10p on bottles, cartons, cups and cans exchanged at any shop could yield an 80 per cent return rate. The schemes could generate between £352million and £990million.
Discussing the deposit price or amount, Miss Cunningham said: ‘That’s one of the things we would look at. If you make it too little it doesn’t work because it’s not worth enough — and if you make it too much then the initial purchase price might be too high.
‘You’ve just got to find that right balance, but other countries have done it so it’s not rocket science.
‘We’re keen to make it not just bottles, but to make it glass and cans — not just plastic.’
Iain Gulland, chief executive of Zero Waste Scotland, which produced the detailed designs, said: ‘Scotland’s planned deposit return scheme is a landmark in the nation’s circular economy journey, with the potential to drive investment and create jobs in Scotland at the same time as improving recycling.
‘I would encourage everyone to have their say on what Scotland’s deposit return scheme should look like, and how it should work.
‘You’ll be helping to shape the best possible deposit return scheme for Scotland.
‘It’s not so much an attack on plastics as it is an attack on our throwaway culture. It’s a way we can capture those materials for an economic opportunity as well as addressing litter.’
However, some campaigners felt that the proposals did not go far enough as they excluded certain types of containers.
John Mayhew, director of the Association for the Protection of Rural Scotland, has been running the Have You Got The Bottle? campaign.
He said: ‘In February the Cabinet Secretary committed to a deposit return system covering glass, cans and plastic, so it’s surprising that the Scottish Government would consult on a system less ambitious than that.
‘Similarly, we know that modern deposit systems achieve return rates of around 95 per cent, but the options set out here show nothing achieving more than 80 per cent.
‘Despite these potential weaknesses, this process still can lead to an efficient deposit system for Scotland that tackles litter and builds a circular economy, and we would urge the public and business to take part in the consultation to support that.’