DRS administrator Circularity Scotland has announced a slight increase in Handling Fees as Lanarkshire retailer Abdul Majid’s legal challenge is given the green light to proceed.
With retailers seeking more clarity and transparency on Scotland’s ground-breaking Deposit Return Scheme, these qualities seem in very short supply as the scheme draws ever closer to its go-live date on 16 August this year. The latest major hand grenade in proceedings is the prospect of a legal challenge to the Handling Fees retailers will receive for being part of the scheme. Bellshill retailer Abdul Majid’s quiet confidence that a legal challenge he is mounting would be allowed to proceed appears to have been well founded: the Court of Session has formally granted permission for his Judicial Review petition to proceed.
Handling error
As previously reported in SLR, Abdul is challenging “the legality of the retailer Handling Fees which DRS administrator Circularity Scotland (CSL) is seeking to impose on retailers”.
Unsurprisingly, the Scottish Grocers’ Federation (SGF), which is backing Abdul’s challenge, has welcomed the news that the challenge will now proceed.
SGF CEO Pete Cheema said: “Scottish Grocers’ Federation has been and remains fully committed to a fit for purpose Deposit Return Scheme but for that to happen recognition must be given and action taken to address the concerns around retailer handling fee levels which has been raised in Mr Majid’s petition.”
Abdul’s concern is that, after extensive analysis, he feels that the Handling Fee levels will not cover his costs and “will be detrimental to his business both in the short and long term thereby threatening the viability of his store which provides key services and groceries to his local community in Bellshill”.
Fee recalculation
In the wake of this news, CSL then unexpectedly revealed an increase in the return Handling Fees. Increases of up to 19% were announced after the fees had been “recalculated following feedback from industry and an independent assessment from PwC, which considered the impact of inflation and changes to the guidance around exemptions for return points announced by the Scottish Government last year”.
The recalculation sees the manual Handling Fee remain at 2.69p per container while the fee for those using automated Reverse Vending Machines (RVMs) rises from 3.55p to 3.70p per container for the first 8,000 containers each week and from 1.35p to 1.60p for every container above the 8,000 threshold each week.
CSL said the revisions will not increase the total anticipated cost of the scheme and follow the December announcement of a reduced producer fee, which was slashed by 40%.
David Harris, Chief Executive of CSL, said: “We’re focused on delivering a Deposit Return Scheme that works for businesses of all sizes and delivers for Scotland. We will continue to work closely with industry, helping them to prepare for the scheme and ensuring that the scheme runs as efficiently and at as low cost as possible from August 2023.”
| Original Fee | Revised Fee | |
| Manual | 2.69p | 2.69p |
| Automatic Level One* | 3.55p | 3.70p |
| Automatic Level Two | 1.35p | 1.60p |
* Return Point Operators will receive the Automatic Level 1 fee for the first 8,000 qualifying containers processed each week and the Automatic Level 2 fee for every container above the 8,000 threshold.
To help retailers prepare for DRS, CSL is running a series of registration workshops this month at venues across Scotland, as well as online.
With Return Point Operator Registration opening in March, the CSL workshops are open to all local retailers. They will last just over three hours and will cover:
- Producer Registration process
- Return Point Operator Registration process
- Operations overview: how the scheme works
- Exemptions: eligibility criteria
- Q&A session
There are two seminars at each location at 9am and 2pm each day. The seminars take place on:
- Tuesday 7 February at Macdonald Drumossie Hotel, Old Perth Road, Inverness IV2 5BE
- Wednesday 8 February at The Ben Nevis Hotel & Leisure Club, North Road, Fort William PH33 6TG
- Thursday 9 February at Malmaison Dundee Hotel, 44 Whitehall Crescent, Dundee, Angus DD1 4AY (Please note: There is no parking available at the Malmaison Dundee Hotel but it is a short walk from several public car parks)
- Monday 13 February – DoubleTree by Hilton Edinburgh Airport, 100 Eastfield Road, Edinburgh, EH28 8LL
- Tuesday 14 February – Philipburn Hotel, Linglie Road, Selkirk TD7 5LS
- Wednesday 15 February – DoubleTree by Hilton Glasgow Central, 36 Cambridge Street, Glasgow G2 3NH
- Thursday 16 February – Cairndale Hotel, English Street, Dumfries, DG1 2DF
- Friday 17 February – Webinar, 11am (a recording will be available after the event)
To register for the events or for further information, visit circularityscotland.com.
