Circularity Scotland announces reduction in forecast producer fees for DRS

Circularity Scotland, the administrator of Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS), has announced that forecast producer fees have been reduced for every type of material included in the scheme, in what is being hailed as a “big result” for industry.

The producer fees, which have been reduced by 40 per cent in some cases, are calculated for each type of material and now reflect the variations in collection costs as well as the sales revenues for collected materials.

The scheme administrator has also announced that the timing of cashflows from producers to Circularity Scotland for deposits have also been extensively reviewed. The revised profile of payments will see a reduction in cash to be paid by certain producers at the point the scheme goes live (particularly those retaining the use of UK-wide products).

These changes are a result of Circularity Scotland’s ongoing dialogue with industry to reduce the cashflow impact of the scheme on producers, as well as engagement with the Scottish Government, which recently announced revised guidance around return point exemptions.

The final version of the Producer Agreement, including updated forecast fees and cashflows, is now available to view on the Circularity Scotland website.  

“As scheme administrator, Circularity Scotland’s work is well under way to ensure that the Scotland’s DRS is a success and runs effectively, efficiently, and at as low a cost as possible, from August 2023,” said David Harris, Circularity Scotland CEO.

“The subject of forecast producer fees has been a huge focus for us, and we’ve been working with government and all stakeholders to make positive strides in this area. The reductions we’ve been able to announce today will lower all producer DRS costs and bring about significant reduction in Day 1 cash requirements.

“This is a big result for industry and our work continues to find even greater efficiencies. More information will be released shortly on the calculation of fees and administration of the scheme. In the meantime. Circularity Scotland will continue to work on initiatives to further reduce the cashflow impact of the scheme on producers and optimise the cost of operating the scheme. We will update industry in due course.

“We’re also here to help drinks producers prepare for scheme registration and our registration portal is open – so that businesses can appoint Circularity Scotland as their scheme administrator, which means we’ll manage their registration with the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) and some of their scheme obligations.”

Drinks producers – defined under the scheme as brand owners, importers or website operators selling single-use containers made from PET plastic, glass, steel or aluminium, sized between 50ml and 3 litre – need to be registered with the scheme’s regulator, SEPA, by 28 February. Any drinks producers not registered by this date will be unable to legally sell scheme articles in Scotland after 16th August 2023.

SEPA producer registration opens on 1 January 2023.

To help producers with the application process, Circularity Scotland has prepared a guide to the registration process and a guide to the Producer Agreement, which is available on the website.

Circularity Scotland’s customer service team are on hand to answer any questions relating to registration or on DRS itself. They are available from 9am-5pm Monday to Friday and can be reached on 0141 401 0899. They can also be contacted via the contact form on the website.  

Forecast producer fees as of 14 December:

*Retained EAN – to cover unexpected loss in revenue if the number of existing products (due to be replaced by new Scottish only products) sold through after go-live is higher than planned.