An Australian recycling company has been appointed as a partner to handle collection and processing in Scotland for the new UK-wide deposit return scheme.
Re.Group will work with Hargreaves Services when the scheme is introduced in October next year.
About 400 recycling vehicles are expected to collect cans and plastic materials across the UK and a dedicated DRS processing facility will be set up in Scotland, along with others in England and Northern Ireland.
The scheme will follow similar lines to the one which was controversially introduced by the Scottish government and quickly ditched amid a cross-border political row and a legal hearing.
It will see a 20p deposit applied to all single use PET plastic, aluminium and steel drinks containers between 3L and 150ml. Consumers will then get their deposit back when they take back their drinks containers to a return point.
It is estimated that every year, more than 6.5 billion cans and bottles in the UK end up as waste rather than being recycled, whereas the average return rate in European countries with a DRS is 90%.
Russell Davies, Exchange for Change chief executive, said: “The Deposit Return Scheme will transform how the UK recycles. This is not only about preventing waste from polluting our towns, countryside, rivers and beaches, but also about investing for the long-term in new environmental infrastructure, jobs and opportunities across the UK.
Re.Group managing director David Singh said: “Having delivered DRS services at scale in Australia, we have seen first-hand the positive impact these schemes have on communities and the environment.”
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