The Association for the Protection of Rural Scotland (APRS), based in Edinburgh, has published the results of a poll showing that most residents would support a deposit refund system to cover the collection of cans and bottles.
In the poll, conducted for APRS by the U.K. market research firm Survation, 78.8 percent of the Scottish public surveyed supported the deposit refund system, 12.7 percent neither supported or opposed the system, while 8.5 percent opposed it.
Survation polled 1,011 Scottish adults aged 16 and over, Feb. 12-19, 2015.
Scotland’s 2009 Climate Change Act gave Scottish ministers the power to adopt a deposit refund system. The same legislation also underpins the country’s plastic bag fee or charge, which has reduced plastic bag usage by more than 80 percent in six months, APRS says.
Earlier this month the Scottish Government and Zero Waste Scotland published research concluding that a deposit refund system for Scotland would be feasible and explaining how such an approach could be most efficiently designed in Scotland.
Pilot programs involving “reverse vending machines” were conducted at the Heriot-Watt University campus and elsewhere in 2013, with results encouraging, according to APRS.
“We know it works in other countries, tackling litter, reducing waste, boosting recycling and supporting good new jobs in the circular economy, observes John Mayhew, director of the APRS. “It’s great to see Scottish Ministers looking positively at this proposal, and we will be taking part in a meeting with stakeholders to urge them to move quickly to get this system up and running. APRS will also contribute to the debate and provide information to the public and to policymakers about the benefits it will bring for the public, for local government, for business and for employment.”