Today, the 1st January saw an end to Irn Bru’s 30p deposit scheme for customers who return glass bottles.
AG Barr, the owners of Irn Bru will decommission its current washing equipment after making a £5m investment in their bottling factory.
The ‘glass cheque’ has been running since 1905 but since the 1990s bottle hand backs have saw a drop of 40% with kerbside recycling by local Councils thought to be the reason behind the move.
The company’s commercial director Jonathan Kemp said: “With improved kerbside recycling, only one in two of our bottles are now being returned, meaning that the process of handling returned bottles has become uneconomic.
“It’s a sad decision to take.”