Northern Ireland’s Environment Minister Mark H Durkan has said he is ‘considering’ introducing a money-back system on drinks bottles to improve recycling.

Speaking on Friday (26 June), Durkan said that he had been ‘watching with interest’ Scotland’s work on deposit-return schemes (DRSs) and has now requested an ‘options paper’ from his officials on the feasibility of introducing such a system in Northern Ireland.

According to Zero Waste Scotland’s feasibility study and report into a potential cash deposit scheme for Scotland, a money-back system could see retailers or automated reverse vending machines paying consumers between 10 and 20 pence (p) for returning empty bottle packaging (such as glass and plastic bottles) for recycling. It is hoped that this system could reduce litter arisings, boost recycling participation whilst complementing local authority recycling services, and improve the quality of materials collected for recycling.

DRSs ‘could play a key role in reducing litter and improving recycling services’

Durkan said: “A deposit scheme, giving 10p back on bottles, operated here in the past, and I think there is the opportunity and appetite for the reintroduction of a similar scheme to reward people who return drink containers and in turn help the environment.

“I have been watching with interest the pilot deposit-return system in Scotland and am keen to see the outcome of their call for evidence of what the practicalities of such a scheme would be and what lessons we can learn here in the north.

“This scheme could play a key role in reducing litter and improving recycling services, and I have requested an options paper from my officials on the desirability and feasibility of a DRS for Northern Ireland.”

Although the introduction of such a system has been found to be popular with the public (78.9 per cent of respondents to a survey on the potential introduction of a Scottish DRS said they would support it), stakeholders in the packaging industry have spoken out against any potential system.

Jane Bickerstaffe, Director of the Industry Council for research on Packaging and the Environment (INCPEN), stated: “We need to develop and improve existing initiatives, rather than creating new ones, such as a deposit-return system, which will be more costly for consumers and business, less convenient, address only a small proportion of litter and likely to undermine existing systems.”

Find out more about Scotland’s work on DRSs and further arguments for and against deposit-return systems.