Deposit Return Scheme

On 20 January 2023, DEFRA, the Welsh Government and DAERA published a Government response to a second consultation exercise held in 2022 proposing the implementation of a Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The proposal is to implement the regulations by the end of 2023, with a commencement date by 1st October 2025 (although this was acknowledged as a stretching target date and a comment by the Environment Secretary in March 2024 suggested it would be unrealistic before 2027 - which was confirmed in a statement made on 25th April 2024 with a move to an October 2027 start date). Scotland are to announce their scheme to align with the rest of the UK in due course.

The proposal is to focus the DRS on drinks containers with a deposit paid when a drinks container is purchased which is then redeemed when the consumer returns their empty drinks container to a designated return point. This has proven successful in other countries, particularly in Scandinavia and Germany, and the objective is to increase recycling and reduce the littering of drinks containers included in the scheme. .

The Key Announcements in the Published Response

• Containers in scope from 50ml to 3 liters (the 'All-in' approach) across England, Wales and Northern Ireland
• Container types in England and Northern Ireland to include PET bottles, steel and aluminium cans.
• In Wales the same types as England and Northern Ireland, but to also include glass bottles.
• A collection target of 90% is to be set in the regulation for delivery within 3 years of the operation of the scheme (and a minimum of 85%).
• Deposit levels to be set by a Deposit Management Organisation or DMO (yet to be appointed) which will also manage funds from a combination of revenue from the material it collects and sells to reprocessors, producer registration fees and unredeemed deposits.
• Retailers selling 'in scope' containers will be obliged to host a return point, with exemption applications to the DMO.
• Local Authorities will be able to take part in the DRS by separating out containers and redeeming the deposit on them.

First Stage Consultation Response

The first stage consultation responses were published in July 2019 and the next steps were set out in August 2019 to:

1. Seek primary powers to implement deposit return schemes in the Environment Bill
2. Hold a second consultation in 2020 on the regulatory framework for introducing a DRS through secondary legislation
3. Following the second consultation, introduce a DRS from 2023

The Second Stage Consultation Approach

The second stage consultation opened in March 2021 and closed on 4 June 2021, having been delayed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In Scotland a DRS scheme was approved by the Scottish Parliament on the 13th May 2020 for implementation in March 2022. However, it was then announced on the 7th June 2023 that this was to be delayed to align with the scheme of the rest of the UK.

This consultation ran in parallel with the Extended Producer Responsibility and Consistency in Recycling Collections in Englandconsultations.