Scotland announces further changes to DRS

The Scottish government has announced several changes to the deposit return scheme (DRS), with small businesses set to benefit.

Circular Economy Minister Lorna Slater said the range of measures announced on Thursday (20 April) will make it easier for drinks producers and retailers to prepare for the scheme, while making sure environmental benefits are still delivered.

On Tuesday, First Minister Humza Yousaf has announced an extension of the DRS launch date to March 2024, from August this year.

The latest changes include:

• drinks containers of under 100ml will be excluded, removing miniatures and other smaller containers from the scheme
• products that sell fewer than 5,000 units per year will be excluded, which will particularly benefit craft producers
• all hospitality premises that sell the large majority of their drinks products for consumption on the premises will be exempt from acting as a return point
• the online application process for retailers to apply for an exemption from providing a return point has been simplified

“Scotland’s deposit return scheme will reduce litter on our streets, massively increase the recycling of drinks containers and help meet our net zero ambitions,” Slater said.

“However, to realise these benefits DRS needs to be delivered in a way that works for businesses, especially for small drinks producers. The changes I have set out will make the scheme easier for industry to deliver – especially for craft producers – while still making sure the vast majority of drinks containers are captured for recycling.”

The current deposit return scheme regulations include all drinks from 50ml to 3 litres and place no lower limit on the volume of sales to qualify for the scheme.

Introducing a threshold of 5,000 units per year will remove many craft drinks and limited edition products. It is anticipated that this change will only remove around 0.5% of articles from the scheme but will remove the need for around 44 per cent of businesses to apply a deposit to their products.

Slater also repeated the call on the UK government to issue an exclusion for the scheme from the Internal Market Act.

“To move forward with certainty, the UK government must stop delaying the long overdue exclusion from the Internal Market Act. This damaging Act was imposed on the Scottish Parliament after Brexit without its consent and creates confusion and uncertainty for businesses,” Slater said.

“After that Act was passed, we engaged in good faith, following the agreed process, and have done so for nearly two years now to agree an exclusion. The UK government needs to at long last issue an exclusion, and recognise the right of the Scottish Parliament to enact legislation in devolved areas without interference.”

The Scottish Wholesale Association (SWA) has welcomed the changes to the scheme.

“One of our aims, and we have been pushing for this since 2019, has been to have a de-minimis approach to ensure wholesalers putting small volumes of a product onto the market aren’t hit hard by DRS and to protect the consumer choice in hospitality and speciality retail, where such products are primarily sold,” Colin Smith, chief executive of the SWA, said.

“We were extremely pleased that our ongoing engagement with the Circular Economy Minister resulted in her announcement today of a de-minimis for all products below 5,000 unit sales.

“While we await the full detail of the de-minimis, I personally thanked the First Minister and Lorna Slater in a face-to-face meeting they held with industry late this afternoon.

“This will not only help our wholesalers and smaller producers, but also reduce the numbers of producers Circularity Scotland has to deal with, thereby simplifying and de-risking Scotland’s DRS.”