Glass should be in DRS for all UK nations, say Scots

Some eight out of ten Scots want glass to remain in a Deposit Return System (DRS), and over three quarters believe glass bottles should also be added to the DRSs in England and Northern Ireland, a poll has revealed. 

The research, conducted by Survation between 27th April and 3rd May 2023 and commissioned by international campaign group Nature 2030, follows the country’s First Minister Humza Yousaf announcing in April that Scotland’s deposit return scheme will now be implemented on 1 March 2024, rather than August this year.

In the UK more than 30 percent of glass is not recycled. Whitehall sparked outrage amongst environmental campaigners last year when it revealed glass bottles would be excluded from the scheme in England and Northern Ireland. In contrast schemes planned for Wales and Scotland are set to include glass. 

Capturing 90% of the glass bottles in the scope of the scheme would enable Scotland to recycle 504 million glass bottles each year, according to Zero Waste Scotland. Campaigners believe an ‘all-in’ scheme with a variable deposit is key to tackling Britain’s waste crisis. They argue a comprehensive scheme capturing as many materials as possible will be easier for consumers to understand and is the most effective model for reducing waste.

A previous poll from Nature 2030 in January found strong support for glass inclusion with some 75 percent of Britons wanting glass bottles urgently reinstated in the Government’s proposed deposit return scheme in England & Northern Ireland.

Steve Hynd, policy manager at City to Sea, said: “As we have seen south of Scotland’s borders, delay is the precursor to a reduction of policy into a piecemeal offering that fails to protect our environment. I not only urge Hamza Yousaf to not crumble to those who wish to side-line circularity for profit, I urge the remaining nations of the United Kingdom to match Scotland’s DRS; include glass, ensure a variable deposit, accelerate implementation.”

Jo Royle, founder of Common Seas, said: “Deposit Return Schemes must include all materials across all four nations in the UK if we are to tackle Britain’s waste crisis. Every year enough litter to fill four Wembley Stadiums is collected. This costs almost £1bn in clean-up bills nationally. To stop polluting waste reaching our oceans and natural environments an inclusive DRS must be deployed across the British Isles.”

Dominic Dyer, chair, Nature 2030, said: “It’s clear that the British population want to see glass included in the four nation’s DRS plans and the planet needs it. Until now, Scotland has been an outlier within the UK, a model to replicate. The delay brings cause for concern that Scotland will be dragged back into an English model of DRS that fails to protect nature and fails to satisfy the demands of the public. Scotland must continue to lead the way on recycling.”

Responding to news that Scotland will delay introduction of its Deposit Return Scheme until March 2024, co-founder of A Plastic Planet, Sian Sutherland said: “Deposit return schemes are used successfully all over Europe, and encourage people to think of their containers as something that lives on beyond their own consumption. By the time we actually introduce DRS in the UK at large, brands and retailers will have leapfrogged to even simpler systems of pre-filled reusable standardised packaging.”

However, the Association of Convenience Stores believes that glass should be excluded from DRS due to the operational and health and safety issues that it presents for retailers and colleagues.

When the glass exclusion in Northern Ireland and England was announced, ACS chief executive James Lowman said: “Retailers in England and Northern Ireland will be relieved that they won’t have to handle the return of glass drinks containers as part of a Deposit Return Scheme. All of the operational problems related to a Deposit Return Scheme – colleague safety, storage, handling heavy waste and breakages - are made much more acute by the inclusion of glass.”

He remained hopeful that the inclusion of glass in Wales’ and Scotland’s DRSs would be reconsidered. “We are disappointed that retailers in Wales and Scotland will have to face into these problems and bear the significant financial and operational costs of doing so,” he said. 

“Furthermore, having different packaging types included in different parts of the UK will be a nightmare for wholesalers and producers who will have to make, store and distribute two versions of many products. We hope that policy-makers in Wales and especially in Scotland, where the scheme is due to come into effect in just over a year’s time, will reconsider the impact of including glass in the scheme.”

British Glass has also spoken out against glass being included in UK DRS schemes, and is “delighted” that it does not feature in schemes for England and Northern Ireland. “While a DRS works for some packaging materials like plastic and aluminium cans, it is not the right solution for glass,” said the group.

“The evidence is clear - including glass in the DRS would have increased the carbon emissions in our atmosphere by two million tonnes, increased plastic consumption, and split glass food and beverage packaging into two waste streams – to the detriment of both.”

What’s more, British Glass claimed that the public would prefer to see glass recycled at their doorstep, with new polling from Savanta showing that two thirds of UK adults (69%) say that recycling glass bottles through household waste collections would be more convenient than returning them to a dedicated return point.