ACS (the Association of Convenience Stores) has written to MS, Minister for Green
Skills, the Circular Economy and Biodiversity, calling on the
Scottish Government to urgently address the challenges facing the
introduction of a deposit return scheme (DRS) in Scotland later
this year.
In the letter, ACS warns that there is still confusion over
‘basic operational elements’ of the scheme, such as how prices
should be displayed in stores, how often collections will take
place, and how long retailers will have to wait for deposit
refunds.
The Scottish Government have committed to introducing a deposit
return scheme on 16th August this year. While ACS
supports the introduction of the scheme through its involvement
with Circularity Scotland (CSL) and regular communications with
retailers, it has warned that there are too many unknowns at this
late stage, especially around the transition period, or
‘cutover’.
ACS chief executive James Lowman said: “We are committed to
making the upcoming deposit return scheme work in Scotland, but
the timescales have gone from being ambitious to impractical.
With so much of the detail still yet to be published, there is
rising concern amongst convenience stores and other parts of
industry that we won’t be ready for August. Failure to accelerate
the publication of operational information would be an expensive
mistake and risk alienating both customers and retailers.”
ACS is currently working on a comprehensive guide for retailers
on the practical implications of running a deposit return scheme
in store, whether they are seeking an exemption, operating a
manual scheme, or installing a reverse vending machine in store.
The guidance will be launched at the ACS Responsible Retailing
Seminar on March 1st.
The full letter is available here.
