Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) continues to move forward, despite concerns from the UK glass industry and 16 supporting organisations that glass should be excluded.

Cabinet Secretary for the Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform, Roseanna Cunningham, has laid draft regulations in the Scottish Parliament that will create the legal framework for Scotland’s DRS. The announcement comes shortly after British Glass and 16 supporting organisations issued an open letter to the environment secretary.

The new regulations will see the establishment of a scheme that will include PET, aluminium and steel cans, as well as drinks containers made of glass with a 20p deposit.

“We are disappointed that the Scottish Government, regardless of concerns from industry, continues push forward with a DRS including glass” commented Dave Dalton, British Glass CEO. “We believe that the Scottish Government is bringing in the DRS to tackle a plastic litter issue rather than taking a measured and joined up approach to improving the wider recycling infrastructure. The glass sector will unfairly pay the price for the fight against plastic litter when we believe there is not a glass litter problem.

“Recycling is such an important issue for our sector, both in terms of the circular economy and decarbonisation, so it is vital that we get it right. We do not believe that including glass in the DRS will achieve the environmental goals set out by the Scottish Government. In fact, waste management experts argue that including glass in a DRS would actually reduce the current UK glass recycling rate of 67%.”