Deposit Return Scheme
On 18 February 2019, DEFRA published a consultation proposing the implementation of a Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) in England, in conjunction with the devolved administration in Wales and DAERA in Northern Ireland.
The proposal is to focus the DRS on drinks containers - glass bottles, plastic bottles and cans - 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. [1].
The first stage consultation responses were published in July 2019[2] and the next steps were set out in August 2019 to:
- Seek primary powers to implement deposit return schemes in the Environment Bill
- Hold a second consultation in 2020 on the regulatory framework for introducing a DRS through secondary legislation
- Following the second consultation, introduce a DRS from 2023
It appears that the second stage consultation is now set for early 2021, delayed as a result of the pandemic[3] but it is presently unclear as to whether the implementation will be delayed by a year.
In Scotland a DRS scheme was approved by the Scottish Parliment on the 13th May 2020 for implementation in March 2022[4] comprising an 'all in' model (i.e. all sizes of drinks containers) covering plastic bottles, aluminium and steel cans and glass bottles with a flat rate deposit of 20 pence (£0.20).