Digital DRS (DDRS) is an emerging solution for DRS (deposit return schemes) that enables consumers to return their packaging to a range of return points, including kerbside, to receive a reward. To date, a number of small trials have taken place to demonstrate aspects of DDRS.
The Brecon trial was the first to implement DDRS across an entire community to measure how the public responded to it. For 16 weeks, all single serve soft drinks sold in Brecon had a unique code applied in the retailer. Over 350,000 stickers were applied for this purpose, largely by a small locally recruited team and supported by some of the participating retailers. At the start of the trial, residents were sent a pack of information which included uniquely coded labels to place on their normal recycling boxes at home. This enabled them to return their empty containers to their kerbside box, as they would normally do, and receive a 10p reward for every container returned. For the trial, there were also several ‘on-the-go’ return points provided – 2 automated return points (ARP’s), 3 stores provided a manual over-the-counter (OTC) take-back service and 2 smart bins were provided in key locations in the town (Community Bins). The ARP and OTC options enabled the public to return containers without using a smartphone. A smartphone was required, via a web app developed specially for the trial, for kerbside and Community Bin returns. Over the 16 weeks. ~20,000 containers were returned across the 4 types of return point (kerbside, ARP, OTC, Community Bin). 24 retailers across the town of Brecon participated in the trial (all except one), ranging from the largest supermarkets to the leisure centre and library, to take-aways and cafés. To track how reliably householders returned their claimed containers to the correct kerbside box, 500 boxes were sampled though the trial and all labelled containers were scanned and compared to which had been claimed.
A staggering 97.6% of all claimed bottles in the samples were correctly returned at kerbside. In the trial 58% of all returns were through the kerbside system. This translates to an estimated 77% if this solution were scaled nationally across Wales. The on-the-go return points were also well used and resulted in almost zero contamination, demonstrating the effectiveness of low-cost return points within the community.
The trial was led by the DDRS Alliance, sponsored by Welsh Government and supported by Powys County Council, Wrap Cymru, 24 retailers (including 15 national retailers), Danone, Nestle Waters, Biffa, Tetra Pak, ACE UK and many others. The DDRS Alliance provided the technology solutions which operated from UK, Norway and Spain! The trial demonstrated for the first time that UK consumers engage well with a Digital DRS solution and prefer the options it provides for returning drink containers for recycling for a reward. The trial report by WRAP has become a key element of Welsh Government’s strategy on DRS.