Reactions to Wales’s withdrawal from a UK-wide deposit return scheme range from disappointment to calls for the entire scheme to be scrapped.
Earlier this week, Irranca-Davies announced that the Welsh Government was withdrawing from the development of a UK-wide deposit return scheme (DRS), citing issues caused by the UK Internal Market Act 2020.
The announcement was likely linked to the Welsh Government’s intention to include glass as part of the country’s scheme, which caused Scotland’s DRS to collapse in 2023.
Reacting to the Welsh Government’s decision, Dan Cooke, CIWM’s Director of Policy, Communications, and External Affairs, says a UK-wide DRS is preferable from the perspective of the wider public, retailers and most in the recycling and waste sector.
“Whilst acknowledging Wales comes from a different starting point than other UK nations, the unsurprising withdrawal by Welsh Government from the UK-wide scheme will undoubtedly cause a degree of confusion, complexity and, potentially, added cost,” Cooke said.
He added that Wales’s withdrawal contributed to a lack of clarity around if digital DRS options are to be considered viable.
Cooke continued: “We note and applaud the UK Government’s commitment to the early implementation of recycling and waste reforms as bedrock requirements of a more circular economy, but it may be prudent for the introduction of the DRS to be deferred until larger and more significant changes, namely EPR and Simpler Recycling, have been implemented and ‘bedded-in’. This is consistent with CIWM’s previous analysis and position.”
In response to the announcement, a UK Government spokesperson said: “We are committed to delivering a DRS across England, Northern Ireland and Scotland, which will go live in October 2027.
“We will continue to work collaboratively with the Devolved Governments and industry to ensure our scheme works for businesses and consumers, while creating thousands of green jobs, driving investment into new infrastructure and moving towards a circular economy.”
Recyclers call for the entire DRS to be scrapped
The Recycling Association has called for the entire DRS to be scrapped, calling it unnecessary and a “disaster from start to finish”.
Paul Sanderson, the Recycling Association’s chief executive, said: “The only people who want a DRS are the soft drinks manufacturers and politicians.
“All of this chaos and years of getting nowhere and still we are talking about when it will be introduced.
“With Wales pulling out of the UK DRS, now is the perfect time to abandon this folly. Instead, let’s focus on introducing the important Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) and Simpler Recycling regimes.”
The Recycling Association represents companies involved in collecting, sorting and recycling a range of materials.
Local authorities urge the UK Government to pause DRS
LARAC is urging the UK Government to pause the development of the DRS until other policies have come into place.
Cathy Cook, LARAC Chair, said: “This is the second time, following the Scottish scheme last year, that we have seen efforts to create a multi-tiered DRS within the UK, with the Internal Markets Act again cited as a key challenge and the infrastructure both costly and ineffective at capturing what is needed to make real change to UK recycling rates.
“The Welsh exit from a UK-wide DRS should act as a wake-up call to the regulators that the current plans for DRS should be put on hold, and that the impact of other policies including EPR for packaging and Simpler Recycling (in England), should be measured before billions of pounds is invested to disrupt current infrastructure and behaviours.”
LARAC, The Local Authority Recycling Advisory Committee, was formed in 1985 and full membership is open to any local authority in the UK.
How have retailers and the packaging industry reacted?
Following the announcement, The British Retail Consortium, The Food and Drink Federation, The Association of Convenience Stores and The Industry Council for Packaging and Environment issued a joint statement.
“The decision today by the Welsh Government to step away from the four-nation approach to the DRS is extremely disappointing.
“With industry preparing to invest billions in a UK-wide DRS system, on top of new costs arising from the Chancellor’s budget, it is essential that any approach to DRS is aligned across all four nations and delivers improved recycling rates and a reduction in litter across the UK.
“Today’s announcement will only increase uncertainty for the scheme and cause confusion among consumers, who may feel cheated by their inability to redeem a deposit and perplexed by the inconsistent approaches just a few miles across the border.
The organisations also said it seemed “highly likely” Wales’s decision will make the 2027 DRS implementation deadline even harder to deliver for England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.
