Bottling Out - Some Disabled People may be left out of pocket by proposed Deposit Return Scheme

 

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) is consulting on whether to introduce deposit return schemes to improve recycling. This broadly means that bottles may cost a little more to buy, but you can get money back if you return them.

 

Our members raised concerns about whether Disabled People who need support to live independently might find that they are paying more for goods, and they are unable to get back to shops or reverse vending machines to get money back.

 

We welcomed DEFRA's principle that the deposit return scheme should be as equitable as possible, and asked them togive careful consideration of the potential financial impact of the scheme on Disabled people.

 

You can read the consultation, prepared with our Craftivism and Chat group, here: Merton CIL Response on Deposit Return Schemes

 

You can respond to the consultation directly yourself until 13th May: https://consult.defra.gov.uk/environment/introducing-a-deposit-return-scheme/

You can find out more about our Craftivism and Chat group here: https://www.mertoncil.org.uk/getting-involved/craftivism-and-chat/