Deposit Return Scheme Talks Hailed
Environmentalists have welcomed a meeting on the potential for a UK-wide deposit return scheme for drinks bottles and cans in a bid to cut litter.
Scottish Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead will meet his UK Government counterpart Liz Truss in London on Wednesday to talk about the idea.
A report from Zero Waste Scotland has explored the role that such a scheme could play in reducing waste and improving recycling.
Mr Lochhead is set to ask Ms Truss to give the proposal similar consideration in England, and is writing to his counterparts in Wales and Northern Ireland to invite them to do the same.
Responding to the announcement, WWF Scotland director Lang Banks said: "Deposit and return systems which encourage refilling and recycling have been shown to work successfully elsewhere, so it certainly makes sense to explore if they could work here too.
"We currently live very wasteful lifestyles which in turn damages nature and our climate. And if everyone in the world used the amount of resources as we do we would need three planets to survive.
"Therefore, reducing the amount of waste we produce coupled with achieving much higher levels of recycling is essential if we are to reduce our environmental and carbon footprints."
Mr Lochhead said: "A scheme like deposit return has the potential to be very beneficial for the environment - reducing litter and boosting the recycling of these materials and their economic value to our communities. As we have seen with carrier bag charging, attaching a value to something can be very effective in helping us make small but important changes.
"Countries such as Germany, Sweden and Norway already have such systems in place, as do parts of Canada, Australia and the United States. I have already made my intentions clear that I am keen to explore the opportunities for Scotland from deposit return and I will be highlighting Zero Waste Scotland's study to Liz Truss when I meet her on Wednesday, inviting her to do the same in England."
He went on: "While in the first instance I am looking at the potential of a Scottish scheme, I believe there are merits in exploring a UK-wide system to identify scope to take advantage of scale and explore common benefits."