Commenting on DEFRA's consultation on the Deposit
Return Scheme, Miles Beale, Chief Executive of the Wine and
Spirit Trade Association, said:
“The wine and spirit industry welcomes this consultation. The
WSTA is committed to helping its members do all they can to
reduce waste and improve packaging recycling. Its members will
play a full part in this consultation to help provide Government
with the best industry knowledge to make this recycling
initiative both efficient and effective.
The WSTA has consistently expressed doubts that DRS for glass is
the best and most cost-effective mechanism to improve packaging
recycling. We are therefore pleased to see that the UK Government
has been listening and may consider taking larger bottles out of
scope. Including all glass in a deposit return scheme is likely
to encourage the use of more polluting plastic packaging. This
seems crazy when the evidence shows that, for larger glass
bottles, kerbside recycling achieves a much higher collection
rate. We should learn from the top recycling nations in Europe
who have found more environmentally friendly and efficient ways
of collecting and recycling packaging, without the including
glass in a DRS.
We are pleased that the UK Government recognises the complexities
of introducing DRS and appreciates that changes need to be
evidenced based, something that the Scottish Government has now
begun to recognise, prompting an inevitable - but welcome - delay
to their DRS start date.”
