Business Owner Speaks Out On Bottle Return Scheme: 'We Are Flailing'

The head of one of the drinks producers signing up at the last minute to Scotland’s deposit return scheme has said he did so “trusting in the powers that be not to progress anything too detrimental to Scottish business”.

Alloa-based Williams Bros, which turns out roughly eight million bottles and cans of beer annually, was among the 650 producers yesterday confirmed to have signed up by the February 28 deadline. This was despite serious reservations of owners Scott Williams and his brother Bruce, who have been running the business for more than 30 years.

“We are flailing about, basically,” Scott said last week of the company’s preparations for DRS. “The information keeps changing.”

Scheme administrator Circularity Scotland yesterday hailed what it called “a fantastic start” for the country’s DRS, which is scheduled to launch on August 16. It noted that the 650 firms enrolled account for more than 95 per cent of the total volume of products included in the scheme, the equivalent of more than two billion single-use aluminium, plastic and glass drinks containers annually.

Noting that registration remains open to allow others to enrol, Circularity Scotland chief executive David Harris said: “I would encourage those producers who have begun their registration to complete it as soon as possible and can assure those producers who have yet to sign up, that we have people on hand to support them through the process.”

It has been suggested there could be quite a few yet to go. Colin Smith, chief executive of the Scottish Wholesale Association, said collective data compiled by Circularity Scotland through its own market research and various membership trade bodies indicate there are something in the order of 4,500 producers currently supplying drinks into Scotland, meaning that many smaller operators have yet to step forward.

“Don’s get me wrong, 80% of the volume of containers on the market come from the top suppliers that you would expect – Coca-Cola, Heineken, C&C, and so forth,” Mr Smith said, “but that 4,500 is made up of a lot of SME producers.