Revealed: secret battle to block return deposits on bottles
THE drinks, retail and packaging industries have fought a fierce behind-the-scenes battle to block plans for a deposit scheme for bottles and cans in Scotland, according to Government documents obtained by the Sunday Herald.
Coca-Cola, AG Barr, Asda, Morrisons and the whisky industry have all been involved in privately lobbying ministers to stop thinking about making bottles, cans and cartons returnable to reduce litter and waste. According to a Scottish Government briefing from 2015, an industry lobby group tried to “force” ministers to drop the idea. The group was “vehemently opposed not only to a deposit return scheme but to any broader debate”, officials said.
Ministers have been assessing schemes in which 10p or 20p deposits are paid on plastic, glass and metal containers for soft drinks, water and alcohol. People would get their money back when they returned the containers to retailers. A global summit on deposit schemes will be held in Edinburgh this week, as well as a Government-backed conference on reducing waste by developing a “circular economy”.
But the industry argues that a deposit scheme would be inconvenient, expensive and would damage kerbside recycling. It has proposed boosting recycling instead. The Scottish Government has released 28 files of reports and correspondence between industry, ministers and officials under freedom of information law. They show that five ministers received letters from five industry bodies between June 2015 and March 2016. This culminated in a private five-page letter to First Minister Nicola Stur- geon on March 18, 2016, from the Packaging Recycling Group Scotland (PRGS), aided by public relations firm, Charlotte Street Partners. PRGS was set up to lobby against a deposit scheme, and includes Coca-Cola, AG Barr, the Scottish Retail Consortium, Scotch Whisky Association and 29 others.
A briefing by officials for the then environment minister, Richard Lochhead, in January 2015, warned that PGRS “will be seeking to force our hand on deposit return”. It added: “They are vehemently op- posed not only to a deposit return scheme, but to any broader debate with other stakeholders on the role that a deposit return scheme might play in a move towards a more circular economy in Scotland.”
Until August last year Barr gave a 30p refund for the return of each “ginger” bottle. The firm now argues a deposit return scheme would be “more costly and inconvenient” for consumers and businesses. PRGS said it was committed to working with Government to develop a circular economy.
“A deposit return scheme would undermine the simplicity of kerbside collections, reduce revenue for local authorities, increase consumer and business mileage, and raise potential health concerns,” said PRGS consultant, Campbell Evans.
Coca-Cola stressed it had had “many positive conversations” with the Scottish Government. “We partner with a variety of national anti-litter groups, including Keep Scotland Beautiful, to find new ways to tackle this particular problem,” said its vice-president for public affairs and communications, Julian Hunt.
The Scottish Government said it was continuing to consider a deposit scheme: “We are currently exploring a number of issues identified by PRGS and others.”