About seven or eight weeks ago I was headed into my local Aldi where a big part of the car park was cordoned off for diggers and other equipment pouring the concrete foundation for what looked like a small outbuilding. Wondering aloud what it might be, a man on his way out overheard me and stopped to say that staff in the shop had told him it would be a recycling machine that would “give out tokens” that could be spent in the store.
“Ah”, I replied, “that would be the Deposit Return Scheme,” and then went on to explain that yes, it would give him 20p for every container returned, but only after he had paid an extra 20p deposit on each bottle when buying it in the first place.
“Oh,” he said as his face fell into a frown, “that’s not so good, eh?”
READ MORE: Call for pubs and clubs to boycott recycling scheme
A few hours later I was at the nearby Tesco convenience store where I know the staff and we tend to have a wee chat over the till when checking out. The young assistant behind the counter could tell me the date in a few months’ time when bananas will start being wrapped in paper, not plastic. She also knew when chocolate will be banned from discount Clubcard offers.
I mentioned the Deposit Return Scheme, and the work going on at Aldi. Her face was a complete blank. Charging an extra 20p on every bottle and can? The shop taking back all the empty containers and refunding those 20 pences? She knew nothing about it.
Like Aldi, Tesco is a founding member of Circularity Scotland which was set up two years ago to help the retail and drinks manufacturing industries prepare for the introduction of Scotland’s DRS in August.
Executives at Tesco are undoubtedly well-versed in the implications of the scheme for their business, but that information had not filtered down to the rank-and-file of staff. In the case of Aldi, the message was getting distorted in translation somewhere along the way.
KRISTY DORSEY'S DEPOSIT RETURN SCHEME INVESTIGATION:
- Deposit Return Scheme executive warns of higher prices for consumers
- Deposit Return Scheme: Expert calls for whisky and wine exclusions
- Business owner speaks out on bottle return scheme: 'We are flailing
- Hospitality fears as DRS to go live at height of tourist season
- Deposit return scheme will put some retailers ‘out of business’
I had for many months been receiving press releases from various industry bodies warning of higher prices, less choice, and horrid operational complications to come with the launch of DRS. This is a pretty standard response when industry is faced with any new regulatory regime.
But what became clear is that businesses and government had for the most part been talking amongst themselves. Many ordinary members of the public were unaware of the massive changes coming in just a few months’ time – at best they were misinformed, at worst they were oblivious.
Thus The Herald’s investigation into the bottle return scheme was born.
We spoke to Circularity Scotland about the costs of running the scheme, and how this will be funded. An expert from Germany, where DRS has been in operation for 20 years, explained why it makes “no sense” to apply a mandatory charge to bottles of high-end spirits and wine.
READ MORE: Cost fears as 'supposedly enlightened' bottle return scheme approaches
Producers detailed their costs for complying with DRS, and hospitality operators voiced fears about launching during the height of the tourist season. And finally, retailers explained the knock-on impact for prices on the shelves.
DRS has come strongly to the fore in the last few weeks, with the flames fanned by the SNP leadership contest to replace First Minister Nicola Sturgeon. It may be that DRS is postponed yet again, but having now laid out the various issues, let the next round of discussions be fully informed.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel