Alupro, the Metal Packaging Manufacturers Association and the Can Makers Committee have issued a joint statement that said they do not support the roll out of digital deposit return schemes (DDRS).
The associations, which represent aluminium can recycling and production, said in a statement that aluminium drinks cans are a successful part of the circular economy.
These cans are fully recyclable, with a recycling rate of 82% in the UK.
However, DDRS schemes have been proposed as a way to increase recycling rates using kerbside collections without having to roll out a new method of collecting cans and bottles.
While potential benefits have been identified during studies and trials; a recent report by consultants Eunomia questioned the feasibility and has led to the industry challenging the concepts.
The joint statement from the associations said it is not possible to easily facilitate an effective DDRS scheme by the aluminium beverage packaging and supply chain and claimed it won’t be feasible to include mobile technology using unique codes without adding more time and costs into the process.
Secondly, the statement added that DDRS is unlikely to be as effective as conventional DRS schemes already in place as it wouldn’t improve on recycling rates and packaging sustainability.
On these grounds, the aluminium packaging and recycling sector said it opposed the proposed DDRS models as they add time and costs to the recycling processing and won’t improve on sustainability processes already in place.
