Return handling fees increased for DRS in Scotland

By David Shrimpton in Industry News 27th January 2023

Retailers in Scotland will receive an increase of up to 19% in the amount they are paid for handling returns under the deposit return scheme (DRS) for drinks containers due to come into force in August.

Scheme administrator Circularity Scotland announced the increase this afternoon following consultation with the industry and independent analysis by business consultants PwC.

It also follows the move by independent retailer Abdul Majid, who launched a legal challenge to the scheme in October last year.

When the scheme is introduced, a 20p deposit will be applied on all single-use drinks containers sold in Scotland, which people will then get back when they take their bottles and cans to any return point.

Under the scheme retailers and businesses across Scotland will act as these “return points” and the return handling fee is the amount that they will be paid per container to cover their operational costs in being part of the scheme.

Circularity Scotland said the return handling fee had been recalculated following an independent assessment from PwC, which considered the impact of changes to the guidance around exemptions for return points announced by the Scottish government last year, and inflation.

David Harris, chief executive of Circularity Scotland, said: “We’re focused on delivering a deposit return scheme that works for businesses of all sizes and delivers for Scotland.

“We will continue to work closely with industry, helping them to prepare for the scheme and ensuring that the scheme runs as efficiently and at as low cost as possible from August 2023.”

To help businesses prepare for the scheme, Circularity Scotland is also running a series of registration workshops in February at venues across Scotland, as well as online.

Details on these workshops and how to register can be found at www.circularityscotland.com

If they haven’t already, businesses should contact Circularity Scotland on 0141 401 0899 or via the contact form for support in getting ready for Scotland’s deposit return scheme.

Details of the fees are as follows: