Editorial | Need clarity on plastic bottle refund scheme

Jamaica may indeed be on to a good programme for incentivising a major recycling of plastic bottles. However, the environment minister, Pearnel Charles Jr, should be wary of overhyping the scheme, lest he cause people to perceive it as a dud before it has a chance to get off the ground.

Large-scale recycling, should Minister Charles think about it, will more likely happen when households join the movement, which will be because they have good reason to do so. And that, fundamentally, will rest on two planks: that it makes economic sense to recycle; and that people are invested in the idea. The latter tends to come when people are convinced of the logic of recycling, which usually follows sustained public education campaigns.

Like most of the rest of the world, Jamaica faces a crisis of plastics, or what to do with plastic packaging after use. Until 2019, when the Government imposed a phased ban on most types of single-use plastic bags, most of it ended up in landfills, or in gutters, rivers and streams, before finding its way to the sea, contributing to the over eight million tons of plastics that pollute the oceans annually.

There is no readily available data of how, two years on, the ban on single-use plastic bags has impacted the management and collection of the 800,000 tonnes of solid waste Jamaican households generated annually, of which an estimated 15 per cent was plastics. However, the anecdotal evidence suggests that despite initiatives to encourage recycling, plastic bottles remain a major scourge. Large volumes continue to end up in drains, on beaches, and in the sea.

However, last week Mr Charles, according to the Government’s Jamaica Information Service (JIS), said that a deposit refund scheme (DRS), operated by Recycling Partners of Jamaica (RPJ), is now in place and is soon to be formally launched. An initiative between the Government and firms that manufacture plastic bottles and/or package products in them, RPJ has, up to now, largely focused on encouraging schools and workplaces to engage in collection drives, and on having informal collectors deliver plastic bottles to its collection sites. Collectors can earn up to J$10 for their bottles.

There was, though, no classic deposit return scheme, such as is operated in several European countries, where consumers pay deposits on plastic bottles when they buy the product, and recoup the deposit when the bottles are returned. Decades ago, such schemes were common for glass bottles with retail sales of soft drinks, even at small shops.

However, the JIS reported Mr Charles as telling a webinar hosted by the Canadian Embassy, of a DRS arrangement in which J$1 will be paid for PET and high-density polyethylene bottles delivered to Recycling Partners. The project requires clarity.

THE ISSUES

First, it is unclear whether consumers will have to make that J$1 deposit for it to be reclaimed if, and when, the plastic bottle is turned into Recycling Partners. Or, whether it is a scheme to encourage a trade in the collection and ‘sale’ of plastic bottles for recycling, which appears to be the intent, based on Minister Charles’ comment, as reported by the JIS.

He said of the scheme: “It means that we are incentivising; we are giving a reason for persons to pick up (collect) plastic bottles. You won’t find one glass bottle on the ground in Jamaica, because people can make money from it.”

Some glass bottles, such as those for domestically manufactured beer and rum, are indeed returnable to wholesalers, although not at retail stores. This has encouraged a small trade in the collection of these bottles.

This newspaper, of course, supports any initiative that will contribute to easing the stress on Jamaica’s and the world’s environment. We, therefore, encourage Mr Charles to use influence to redouble the Government’s public information on why Jamaicans should reduce their use of plastics and promote recycling. At the same time, he has to ensure that the National Solid Waste Management Agency (NSWMA) has the systems to facilitate recyclable and non-recyclable waste separation by householders.

RETURN ON INVESTMENT

But on the matter of a DRS, Mr Charles has to engage in a much deeper conversation with stakeholders. We know that such schemes can, in monetary terms, be expensive. For instance, in Germany, where there has been a DRS programme since the early 2000s, an estimated 97 per cent of plastic bottles are recycled. But the deposit of €0.25 per bottle provides an incentive for consumers to recoup their cash. Nonetheless, it costs around €800 million a year to operate the system. German retailers are obligated to accept the returns, whether or not the product was purchased from them.

Next summer in Scotland, two years ahead of the planned roll-out in the rest of the United Kingdom, consumers will have 17,000 outlets where they can recoup the £0.20 deposit they will have to make on plastic bottles. It is estimated that it will cost £1 billion to set up the infrastructure for the DRS in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, plus £841 million a year to run it. That, on the face of it, as critics point out, is pricey. However, with less than half of the 13 billion plastic bottles used annually in Britain recycled, other factors, including value to the environment, joins the matrix for determining return on investment.

Jamaica would not be expected to have high-tech collection systems that are common in Europe for a DRS. But Mr Charles may have to rethink whether J$1 per bottle would be sufficient incentive for Jamaica’s consumers to turn in plastic bottles.

The discussion might focus, too, on whether a single price would be appropriate, no matter the size of the bottle.