Deposit return scheme for Scotland: summary

Who owns the system (Questions 32 and 33)

System ownership refers to the type of organisation that will be responsible for managing a deposit return scheme.

Most deposit return schemes in Europe have a single national administrator that takes the form of a not for profit company overseen by a board made up of industry representatives. The options considered for system ownership in Scotland are:

1. Industry operated not-for-profit – Businesses who are participants in the scheme would establish a system operator to run and administer the system. In other European countries the board of the system operator is comprised of retailers and drinks producers, or the associations of these sectors.

2. Privately owned and operated commercial operation – In this model the Scottish Government would issue a tender for the delivery of the scheme. There could also be an opportunity here for a third sector organisation or social enterprise to bid for the tender.

3. Public ownership – The Scottish Government could chose to operate the system itself, through an existing public body or a new public body. This approach would involve ongoing public sector involvement in a number of different ways. This could allow a greater level of control over the system.

As with other components, there could be some form of hybrid between these options, for instance a combination of public and private ownership or Scottish Government oversight of a privately owned administrator.