At a meeting of retailers and industry experts, ACS explored a number of key issues affecting the convenience sector, including: deposit return schemes, healthy eating, vaping and digital proof of age.

The meeting began with an overview of the deposit return scheme (DRS) in Scotland from ACS public affairs assistant Willem Van de Ven who gave an explanation of the scheme, the exemption process and how this will work for retailers in practice. ACS has developed a video explainer and briefing which is available on the Member Portal here.

Earlier this week, ACS government relations director Ed Woodall spoke at Circularity Scotland’s conference outlining retailers’ concerns and urging for further clarity on a number of aspects on the scheme.

The meeting also explored the responsible sale of vapes, with a presentation from ACS public affairs assistant Daniel Askew who outlined the information in the updated ACS Assured Advice guide on selling vapes responsibly. The full guide is available here.

ACS chief executive James Lowman said: “Our Responsible Retailing Expert Group provides the opportunity for retailers to ask industry experts about key issues affecting their business.

“We’re delighted to have been able to bring together these two groups to have a discussion about some of the challenges that convenience retailers are currently facing and may face in the future.”

If you have any questions about the topics discussed, please contact [email protected] for more information.