‘Reducing waste and promoting a circular economy are key priorities for the NSWA and its members. This is why we have long been supporters of an effective deposit return scheme (DRS) in Scotland, and have worked extensively over the past three years with Zero Waste Scotland, Circularity Scotland and the Scottish Government on the scheme’s development. We look forward to continuing our work on the scheme with the First Minister’s new Government moving forward.
We would like to reiterate our commitment to a successful launch of this landmark environmental initiative on 16th August. Our members, as responsible producers, have been planning for the scheme’s introduction for some time and have invested a significant amount of resource to ensure readiness.
It is our view that any move to exempt small producers or phase the introduction would create an unlevel playing field and cause huge consumer confusion, while creating additional complexities for producers and retailers. We believe DRS needs to remain an all-in scheme for both producers and retailers.
We would also like to underline our strong preference for the schemes to be aligned and interoperable across all four nations as far as possible. This will help reduce complexity and cost for consumers, producers and retailers, as well as diminish the risk of fraud.
We hope decision makers will focus on making DRS a success by maintaining a level playing field and ensuring the scheme can be delivered on time this summer.’
Kinvara Carey, General Manager, NSWA