Last month, after Nicola Sturgeon well and truly uncorked the genie from the bottle, I wrote it was time for the industry to accept that a deposit return scheme (DRS) was not only coming to Scotland but there was every chance it would come to the rest of the UK, too.
It didn’t take long for the second part to become even more apparent, with Defra secretary Michael Gove yesterday nailing his and the UK government’s colours to the mast too.
As Gove claimed the UK could no longer sit by while eight million tonnes of plastic are discarded into the world’s oceans each year, all of a sudden continued resistance to the scheme, particularly from retailers, began to look even more futile.
Like Sturgeon’s announcement, the move by Gove is, of course, as much about politics as the environment. Let’s face it, the Tories have been desperate to have something positive to shout about after the election fiasco and the party’s Brexit turmoil, and with a combination of Sky News, The Sun and the Daily Mail all campaigning for DRS, it was probably inevitable that initial resistance to the problematic scheme, within government at least, would crumble.
Consultations
Now, though, the hard part starts. Even those who accept some sort of DRS system is inevitable point out there are major problems on how to implement it, and consultations on both sides of the border have yet to even start, unveiling the full range of complications.
The extent to which DRS should replace existing - and misfiring - kerbside collection services, or whether it should be used as a weapon alongside a bolstered local authority service, is just one dilemma.
Ministers also have to seriously reassess the system of financial incentives for recycling, which are clearly not doing their job in encouraging enough progress on packaging and marketing support for recycling.
And, of course, there needs to be thought given to how to protect retailers, especially smaller businesses, from being hit by new costs and red tape at a time when they can least afford it.
There is a real danger DRS will be seen as the silver bullet for a problem that may actually make binning plastic bags look straightforward.
Plastic bag tax
Gove predictably draws comparisons to the plastic bag tax, which was vehemently opposed by retailers but in recent times has become almost a PR weapon for some of them.
There is no certainty DRS will have the same success.
But at least the ridiculous idea of Scotland going ahead with it while the rest of the UK sits back and pretends things are working fine isn’t going to happen.
One thing is certain: the scheme that eventually emerges (and hopefully it will be one scheme not a different solution depending on which part of the UK one lives in) will have a much better chance of working with industry’s proactive input, rather than dogged and negative resistance.
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