Deposit and Return Scheme for Scotland Regulations 2020 (as amended): equality impact assessment

Summary of aims and desired outcomes of Policy

1. The Scottish Government is committed to creating a more circular economy where products and materials are kept in a high-value state of use for as long as possible – maximising resources to benefit the economy and the environment. Material consumption and waste are primary drivers of nearly every environmental problem Scotland currently faces, from water scarcity to habitat and species loss.

2. It is recognised that fresh interventions are needed to bring about the systemic and behavioural change necessary to fulfil these aspirations. The Deposit and Return Scheme Scotland for Scotland Regulations 2020 (as amended by the Deposit and Return Scheme for Scotland Amendment Regulations 2025) and the Deposit and Return Scheme for Scotland (Designation of Scheme Administrator) Order 2025 (hereafter referred to as the DRS legislation) will establish a Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) in Scotland and help to support these changes.

3. The DRS forms a key part of the Government’s commitment to moving towards a circular economy and playing its part to tackle the climate emergency. A circular economy, based on sustainable consumption and production, is essential to power Scotland’s transition to a fair, green and sustainable economy, and critical to meeting our obligations to tackle the twin climate and nature emergencies.

4. In a Joint Policy Statement published in April 2024^[1], the Scottish Government alongside the other UK Governments, committed to working together to introduce a UK-wide Deposit Return Scheme in October 2027. In November, the Welsh Government announced that they would not be proceeding with the four nation joint DRS process.^[2] However, the Scottish Government alongside the UK Government and the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) in Northern Ireland, have agreed to proceed with DRS on a three-nation basis. The Scottish Government shares an ambition to increase recycling rates of single-use drinks containers to at least 90%, to significantly cut littering, and to expand opportunities to collect and reprocess high quality materials.

5. The main policy driver for the DRS legislation is to promote and secure an increase in recycling of materials, forming part of the Scottish Government’s response to the global climate emergency by ensuring the targeted materials are collected in larger quantities and separately to other materials.

6. The primary objectives of a DRS are:

i. Reduce littering of drinks containers

ii. Increase recycling rates of drinks containers

iii. Increase the quality of recycled material to encourage closed loop recycling and circularity to ensure materials remain in use for as long as possible.

i. Reduce littering of drinks containers

7. A DRS targets consumers’ behaviour rather than solely producers or delivery bodies. It instigates wider behaviour change which could have wider effects on society in terms of environmental awareness. A DRS adds a monetary value to the packaging of drinks containers which is proven to reduce littering of drinks containers in nations which have introduced a DRS.

8. The DRS will complement wider policy initiatives to tackle litter in Scotland. The National Litter and Flytipping Strategy^[3] sets out a refreshed approach to tackling litter and flytipping in order to protect and enhance Scotland’s environment; ensure safer and cleaner communities and contribute to a thriving circular economy for Scotland. The recent update in October, the National litter and flytipping strategy: update and year 2 action plan^[4] sets our actions for the next year of the strategy. This includes rolling out an education programme nationally, targeted behaviour-based interventions and continuously improved data collection.

ii. Increase recycling rates of drinks containers

9. It is estimated that the recycling rate for aluminium and steel cans in Scotland is around 74%, and 65% for polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic, including materials sorted from residual waste^[5].

10. Scotland is committed to reducing the impact of plastic waste.^[6] Scotland is a signatory to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation's New Plastics Economy global commitment^[7] to end plastic pollution, both as part of the wider UK and also in its own right as the Scottish Government.

iii. Increase the quality of recycled material to encourage closed loop recycling and circularity to ensure materials remain in use for as long as possible

11. A DRS will ensure that material collected is of a high enough quality to be reprocessed. If drinks containers are returned that do not meet the required quality (i.e. they were contaminated or were not empty) they will not be accepted. This would be the case for both Reverse Vending Machines (RVMs) and manual return points. The consumer would risk losing their deposit until the drinks container was presented meeting quality standards. Therefore, consumers are incentivised to return high quality materials.

12. A DRS enables the separate sorting of drinks containers at source by material as opposed to being collected as part of kerbside services where materials streams are often mixed. This will reduce the level of contamination from other materials and packaging types, and reduce the amount of recycling that is subsequently rejected.

13. A DRS will support Scotland’s resource efficiency and circular economy goals by increasing the quality and quantity of recycling for select single-use drink containers. In so doing, the DRS will contribute to the achievement of Scotland’s existing circular economy and waste policies and their targets, and will also help to reduce single-use drinks container litter in Scotland’s terrestrial and marine environments.

Directorate: Environment and Forestry

Division: Circular Economy

Team: Deposit Return