With simply over two years till the United Kingdom introduces a countrywide Deposit Return Scheme (DRS), a brand new Scotland-based consultancy, comprising a group of executives and supply mavens, has been introduced to steer firms – and nations – throughout the complexities of designing and working the brand new environmental measures.
DRS International objectives to advise on and create answers for Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), wherein manufacturers change into financially chargeable for the price of packaging waste. Its preliminary center of attention can be on DRS.
The group, put in combination by means of government chairman, Bill Power, has already steered in 5 nations, together with the Republic of Ireland and Romania on DRS, the place it’s been instrumental in taking greater than two billion boxes out of landfill. DRS International is now believed to be the biggest consultancy of its type on this planet.
The release comes as societal issues about single-use boxes escalate. Some 31 billion bottles and cans are fed on once a year in the United Kingdom and, of those, an estimated 7.5 billion – or 20.5 million an afternoon – aren’t recycled and pass to waste or are thrown away, littering the panorama.
CEO of DRS International is Donald McCalman, previously programme director of Circularity Scotland, who led the implementation of Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme earlier than it was once postponed within the face of political hurdles.
Recognised as probably the most main government on DRS the world over, he mentioned: “As neatly because the environmental advantages that DRS brings, there may be an uplifting impact on society most often on account of chopping down dramatically at the quantity of muddle on our streets and public areas.
“This was an issue which resonated strongly with people when we were hiring our teams and was a significant factor in the rationale for pushing ahead with a DRS in Scotland.”
The new challenge’s director of operations can be Gordon McGuigan, who has greater than 10 years’ senior control revel in throughout the waste and recycling sector and extra not too long ago spent 4 years as a DRS marketing consultant, with meantime COO roles for the Romanian and Irish schemes.
He mentioned: “With the UK scheme coming round the corner and other schemes in Europe set to go live in coming years we feel confident we can deploy more teams into ever growing schemes and do our part to guide them to success. And we also have the skills and experience to help more mature schemes react to the ever changing regulatory and consumer landscape they face.”
As neatly as outsourcing and consultancy answers, DRS International can even be offering IT experience, which can be delivered by means of John Player, who has greater than 30 years of IT revel in operating in a couple of sectors for corporations from massive multinationals to small companies.
He has led the design and implementation of DRS methods, defining end-to-end IT answers from inception and setting up inside supply groups to supporting a success execution.
He mentioned: “Our system is built by DRS people for DRS people. It’s for those running a DRS or about to start a DRS, to assist them in enhancing their data and making decisions quickly as things change and regulations change.”
Mr Power mentioned: “For a few years the price of coping with the environmental have an effect on of goods and packaging has been borne by means of society and isn’t incorporated in the price of manufacture to the manufacturer.
“EPR and DRS schemes are designed to put higher accountability at the manufacturers of the ones merchandise and packaging for the relief of that environmental have an effect on all the way through the lifecycle. DRS International objectives to steer operators (who’re most often appointed by means of manufacturers) from preliminary design to efficiency development, and from technical consultancy to implementation.
“The new consultancy gives a extremely skilled core group with direct design and supply revel in in schemes internationally, supported by means of a community of work-mates who’ve labored at once inside quite a lot of schemes.
“I hope to measure the impact of my career by the hundreds of billions of containers that will be recycled by schemes advised by DRS International in the future.”
