A leading member of the Federation of Independent Retailers (the Fed) addressed Labour MPs, industry representatives and the deposit management organisation, Exchange for Change, during the Labour Party conference in Liverpool earlier this week.
Kaual Patel, of Torridon Stores in Catford in south east London, explained small independent retailers will be vital for the success or failure of the deposit return scheme (DRS) once it goes live in October next year.
However, he added the caveat that he and fellow retailers - particularly those who intended to participate voluntarily - needed clear advice and guidance.
Panel members
Patel was speaking during a panel discussion that included Labour MPs Chris Bloore and Deirdre Costigan, as well as Zak Miller of CMB RVM company, Sam Jones of Coca-Cola Europacific Partners GB and Guy Mason, representing Heineken.
The active Fed member - already an established advocate of the DRS - also repeated calls from the Fed’s Annual Conference in June for members to “start preparing as soon as possible.”
He said he acknowledged the costs associated with the scheme and setting up a reverse vending machine or manual return point, but that these could be dwarfed by lost business of 20-30% from footfall diverted to competitor businesses who participate.
“Retailers need clarity, guidance and support from the scheme…”
Calling for help and support from Exchange for Change, Patel said: “My message is simple - retailers need clarity, guidance and support from the scheme - particularly smaller retailers wanting to participate voluntarily.”
Smaller stores
Patel also highlighted the importance of ensuring the smallest shops in urban areas with a floor area of less than 100 square metres should be able to opt-in as easily as possible and that the voluntary registration process for these businesses should not be burdensome.
He also discussed the need to help boost customer awareness of DRS and for a clear pricing system so users clearly understood the additional cost of the DRS deposit in bottle and can pricing, to minimise uncertainty or friction between retailers and customers.
Patel is already running a DRS trial at his Catford business to boost local awareness, but said more needed to be done to help the public prepare.
The panel was overwhelmingly supportive of the scheme. However, Bloore - Chair of the Packaging in the Circular Economy All Party Parliamentary group - said there were real challenges associated with DRS and there was much to be learned from other countries.
During the discussion, Bloore pointed to Scandinavia, which has had a DRS in place for many years and achieved very high recycling return rates.
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