DDRS Alliance

https://lnkd.in/gNbjasUW The Digital DRS trial in Brecon in 2023 demonstrated a simple, consumer-preferred, kerbside collection leveraging, no noise in shops making, broken glass on the high street eliminating and reduced cost solution for including glass in a DRS without all the cost and complexity of a return to retail model. In the trial, residents of Brecon were able to return glass for recycling for a reward using their normal kerbside collections. No fuss and maintains a separate glass stream to optimise recycling performance. And the best thing about this model? Done right, England and Northern Ireland can decide to exclude glass from a DRS, Wales can include it and Scotland can decide whichever way they want - all without adding supply chain complexity for the UK drinks industry - one UK-wide DRS with easy-to manage regional variations. Politicians and DRS stakeholders - be bold and find a win:win solution to this battle rather than a fight to force someone to conceded defeat!! Get in touch if you want to understand the facts! #DDRSAlliance

Lessons are being learned in Ireland - and one major revelation (not!) is that the Irish culture is not adapting as well to an RVM-based Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) as other, more compliant, cultures - like Germany, Scandinavia and much of Eastern Europe. I suspect the UK will be similar to Ireland though even more so! https://lnkd.in/e3_Xx6RT This article highlights <<again>> that a digital DRS solution would fit the Irish culture so much better than the outdated machine system developed in 1984, cost FAR less, and protect the kerbside collection system enjoyed in Ireland, the UK and many countries around the World. I know the politicians are busy, and the large drinks brands want to put to bed their 3-year planning cycle, but why are we flogging this old nag still? Insight: countries outside the UK (and Ireland) will be first to implement a digital DRS - countries that are way ahead of the UK in digital transformation - and will show the UK up again to be conservative (small 'c') and risk-averse. And I predict that the UK will claim that they cannot switch to a digital system for 7 to 10 years as they have to pay for the RVM machines they have put into the market!! #digitaldrs #DDRSAlliance #thefutureofDRS

Delighted that DDRS Alliance has been shortlisted for a National Recycling Award 2024 for the groundbreaking Digital DRS in Brecon in 2023. The Alliance is a finalist in the Digital Innovation category. The trial demonstrated how effective a Digital DRS solution can be and how the British public loved the convenience and ease of using the system. It also showed how brands and retailers can get amazing insight and data about their products and the way their consumers use and dispose of them. This was a true team effort from funding to execution and my thanks to all those who contributed - especially, but not limited to, Biffa, Danone, Nestlé Waters, Tetra Pak, The Alliance for Beverage Cartons and the Environment , Aldi UK, Coop, Morrisons, Welsh Government, Powys County Council, WRAP, Valpak Limited, Circularity Solutions Limited, recycl3r, Kezzler, Hashting, Unisan, greenYng and TrackerSack Technologies Ltd. https://lnkd.in/gQwp96G3 Also a shout-out to Alliance member Polytag who have also been shortlisted for the same award, making two Digital DRS related finalists! Winners will be announced in November!

What will be the impact of a return-to-retail Deposit Return Scheme in the UK as currently set out by DEFRA? ================================================= 😊 Reduction of litter and pollution caused by plastic bottles and cans 😊 Increase in collection of drink containers meaning more recycling 😦 Requirement to take empties back to shops to get your deposits back - carrier bags may be useful here! 😬 Losing deposit for crushed bottles and cans - need to learn not to crush them! 😶 Increase in price pressures on soft drinks & bottled water - someone needs to pay for the increased costs to the branded suppliers 😐 Shift from large multi-packs to large single PET bottles - driving unit pricing, consumption and waste 😠 Pressures to increase council taxes to fund household waste collections (as being seen in Ireland) https://lnkd.in/ecYvJuUe Is this the cost of helping the environment? YES !! But it doesn't have to be! Digital DRS (DDRS) offers more convenience to the public, protects (in fact strengthens) household collections, costs less and minimises any market distortion. #DDRSAlliance #DigitalDRS #thefutureofDRS

What will be the impact of a return-to-retail Deposit Return Scheme in the UK as currently set out by DEFRA? ================================================= 😊 Reduction of litter and pollution caused by plastic bottles and cans 😊 Increase in collection of drink containers meaning more recycling 😦 Requirement to take empties back to shops to get your deposits back - carrier bags may be useful here! 😬 Losing deposit for crushed bottles and cans - need to learn not to crush them! 😶 Increase in price pressures on soft drinks & bottled water - someone needs to pay for the increased costs to the branded suppliers 😐 Shift from large multi-packs to large single PET bottles - driving unit pricing, consumption and waste 😠 Pressures to increase council taxes to fund household waste collections (as being seen in Ireland) https://lnkd.in/ecYvJuUe Is this the cost of helping the environment? YES !! But it doesn't have to be! Digital DRS (DDRS) offers more convenience to the public, protects (in fact strengthens) household collections, costs less and minimises any market distortion. #DDRSAlliance #DigitalDRS #thefutureofDRS

What could be simpler or more convenient than posting a letter? I was reading a recent article about conventional DRS, such as that recently launched in the Republic of Ireland, and how consumers eventually learn to take their empties back to shops, The article, written by defenders of conventional DRS solutions and the associated RVM's, claimed that it is the most convenient solution for the public. Much easier, they claim, than fiddling about with a smartphone to return at home (as a Digital DRS allows). It brought to my mind the analogy of posting a letter rather than 'having to fiddle about with your smartphone' to send emails or use WhatsApp and the like. Not surprising really, given that the first conventional DRS appeared in 1984 in Sweden - before the internet, smartphones and email - and little changed since! Resistance to change normally stems from feeling threatened - either personally or, in the case of companies, having to change business model to move with the times. Success comes from learning and adapting to new solutions rather than trying to stop or even slow down progress. Yes - posting a letter is easy. But not as simple and flexible as using apps and other online tools. Digital DRS is the DRS equivalent to WhatsApp or email. Post boxes (and RVM-based DRS) are yesterday! Thoughts? #DDRSAlliance #DigitalDRS #thefutureofDRS

An interesting article about the Netherlands deposit return scheme. There is a high number of people rifling through garbage bags to find containers to create a small additional income. Some key statements that caught my eye: 1. "The best way to solve the litter problem is to have more collection points for cans and bottles....". With a conventional DRS this means more capital and more space lost in shops. Digital DRS enables up to ten times the number of return points IN ADDITION to enabling household collections to be used - while reducing the total cost! 2. “..enough people in the Netherlands live in such poverty that it pays to search trash cans. And perhaps compared to other Northern European countries, we have a higher density of people and we live more on the streets. That leads to more cans and bottles in public waste bins.” Goodness only knows how the UK will get on!! 3. “If I buy a can of soft drink somewhere, I have to keep it with me for the rest of the day, collect it at home, and take it to a supermarket later. For many people, that is too much to ask.” That's why you need community-based return points - DDRS is THE answer! Why are we blindly going down the wrong route for the UK? #DDRSAlliance #DigitalDRS #thefutureofDRS https://lnkd.in/erqWpfTS

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SHOULD GLASS BE IN A UK DRS? ====================== When in 2019 the UK Government put out its first consultation on a UK DRS, 86% of the responses favoured inclusion of glass bottles. In their second consultation, following impact assessments, the proposal was to include glass as it provided a superior value (35% higher NPV compared to excluding glass). But by the time the government published their response to the second consultation of 2021, in January 2023, the position had changed, proposing glass be excluded. The Scottish and Welsh Governments did not agree to this position, citing the strong public support for inclusion of glass. Fast forward to 2023 and the planned launch of the Scottish DRS, the inclusion of glass became a hot topic and ultimately was a major factor in Scotland having to abandon its plans under threats from the UK Government. Welsh Government remains a staunch advocate for glass inclusion. Scottish Government has retreated from battle. At the UK Soft Drinks Conference earlier this week, an audience representing the soft drinks industry - highly vocal supporters of a 'well-designed' consistent DRS (therefore publicly against glass to align with the UK Government position), voted in a poll strongly that glass should be in any UK DRS. So should glass be IN or OUT? DDRS Alliance believes glass SHOULD definitely be in any DRS - after all, it is a mainstream drink packaging format and needs a boost from an incentive system to get more returned and recycled. But we think including glass in a return-to-retail model is a BAD IDEA as it introduces cost, complexity, inconvenience and a health & safety challenge. Glass recycling should be incentivised via a national DRS but using the kerbside collection infrastructure we use today. Digital DRS is the only solution for this (and was demonstrated in the recent Brecon trial) and legislators and industry need to wake up and small the coffee (chilled in a glass bottle of course!) and start scoping out how Digital DRS can deliver what the British public wants by including glass. #DDRSAlliance #DigitalDRS #thefutureofDRS

SUSTAINABILITY OF THE YEAR FINALIST! DDRS Alliance is thrilled and honoured to be recognised as one of the finalists in The Grocer Gold Awards 2024, Sustainability Initiative of the Year - sponsored by GS1 UK - for the world-first full town trial of Digital DRS in Brecon, Powys in the summer of 2023. This 4-month trial was one of the most ambitious privately-led and funded trials of its type and was delivered flawlessly delivering some great insight and data to inform the UK DRS discussion. The full report by Wrap can be downloaded here: https://lnkd.in/eMnkXKrR The system, delivered through DDRS Alliance by Circularity Solutions Limited, recycl3r, Hashting and Kezzler and supported by ACE UK, Aldi UK, Biffa, Coop, Danone, Morrisons, Nestlé Waters, Powys County Council, Tetra Pak, Valpak Limited, Welsh Government and WRAP Cymru performed flawlessly and demonstrated how a scale-up to a national solution can work. Our thanks to our partners and the many other organisations who supported us. #DDRSAlliance #DigitalDRS #thefutureofDRS