Scottish Environment Secretary Roseanna Cunningham has been giving details of Scotland's proposed bottle return scheme to MSPs, moving the battle against plastic a little further towards a better environmental outcome.
In essence, when a consumer in Scotland buys certain plastic, can or glass drinks containers, they will be charged an additional 20p. When they return the empty container to the store, they will be refunded the 20p as an incentive to dispose of it correctly. The refund can either be done over the counter or via a reverse vending machine, which issues the refund once a container has been fed into it.
Importantly, the only premises that will be exempt from doing this are those that sell drinks to be consumed on site, such as pubs.
There are other exemptions as well, such as HDPE-made plastic bottles, which usually carry milk, which will be excluded as milk is seen as an essential product. PET plastic bottles which are commonly used to contain most drinks are included, as well as glass bottles.
The Scottish Government intends to introduce legislation later this year in order to make the scheme final, and it will contain a 12 month transitional period to allow businesses to prepare for the implementation of the scheme.
Whilst this scheme will undoubtedly lead to a reduction in plastic litter in the streets and in the marine environment, it is important that the waste is still properly collected and recycled once it has been returned. The scheme will be managed by an independent, private, not-for-profit company says Scotland.
Samantha Harding, of the Campaign to Protect Rural England, said, “We wholeheartedly congratulate the Scottish Government . . . we will be urging environment secretary Michael Gove to build on Scotland’s ambition and go one better, by making sure every drinks carton is also included within England’s deposit system.”
Other environmental groups such as WWF Scotland and Friends of the Earth Scotland have praised the scheme. Elsewhere in the UK:
