Circularity Scotland, the administrator of Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme, has announced that forecast producer fees have been reduced for every type of material included in the scheme.
The producer fees, which have been reduced by 40% in some cases, are calculated for each type of material and now reflect the variations in collection costs as well as the sales revenues for collected materials.
The scheme administrator has also announced that the timing of cashflows from producers to Circularity Scotland for deposits have also been extensively reviewed. The revised profile of payments will see a reduction in cash to be paid by certain producers at the point the scheme goes live - particularly those retaining the use of UK-wide products.
These changes are a result of Circularity Scotland’s ongoing dialogue with industry to reduce the cashflow impact of the scheme on producers, as well as engagement with the Scottish Government, which recently announced revised guidance around return point exemptions.
The final version of the Producer Agreement, including updated forecast fees and cashflows, is now available to view on the Circularity Scotland website.
Circularity Scotland chief executive David Harris said: “As scheme administrator, Circularity Scotland’s work is well under way to ensure that the Scotland’s DRS is a success and runs effectively, efficiently, and at as low a cost as possible, from August 2023.
“The subject of forecast producer fees has been a huge focus for us, and we’ve been working with government and all stakeholders to make positive strides in this area - the reductions we’ve been able to announce today will lower all producer DRS costs and bring about significant reduction in day one cash requirements.
“This is a big result for industry and our work continues to find even greater efficiencies,“ he continued, noting that more information will be released shortly on the calculation of fees and administration of the scheme.
“We’re also here to help drinks producers prepare for scheme registration and our registration portal is open - so that businesses can appoint Circularity Scotland as their scheme administrator, which means we’ll manage their registration with SEPA and some of their scheme obligations.”
Drinks producers - defined under the scheme as brand owners, importers or website operators selling single-use containers made from PET plastic, glass, steel or aluminium, sized between 50ml and three litre - need to be registered with the scheme’s regulator, SEPA, by 28 February.
Any drinks producers not registered by this date will be unable to legally sell scheme articles in Scotland after 16 August 2023.
SEPA producer registration opens on 1 January 2023.
Forecast producer fees as of 14 December:
Producer Fee |
Previous (August 2023) Value |
Updated Value |
Difference |
Plastic |
3.17p |
2.21p |
- 30% |
Aluminium |
3.42p |
2.03p |
- 40% |
Glass |
4.45p |
4.10p |
- 8% |
Day 1 REAN Payment* |
2.4 months |
3 weeks |
Retained EAN covers unexpected loss in revenue if the number of existing products - due to be replaced by new Scottish only products - sold through after go-live is higher than planned.
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