Wales abandons UK-wide DRS in favour of glass inclusion

By Jo Gilbert

Published: 19 November, 2024

Wales will press ahead with its own Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) as the devolved government announced its intention to back out of a UK-wide framework which is looking to exclude glass.

In a written statement, Huw Irranca-Davies MS, the deputy first minister and cabinet secretary for climate change and rural affairs, confirmed that the Welsh government is “not able to proceed with the joint process” to pursue an aligned DRS across the UK.

The Welsh government will now pursue the development of its own scheme, with the inclusion of glass. UK-wide efforts had excluded glass, due to staff safety and storage concerns.

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Some have expressed dissatisfaction with the about-turn from Wales on the much-debated topic. UKHospitality Cymru, for example, has said the move to pursue a separate scheme, not aligned with the rest of the UK, will increase cost and complexity for businesses.

“It’s extremely disappointing that the Welsh government has abandoned the collaborative effort to develop aligned Deposit Return Schemes across the UK,” David Chapman, executive director of UKHospitality Cymru, said.

“Successful Deposit Return Schemes will deliver maximum alignment and interoperability between nations. That unfortunately now looks further away than ever with this decision.

“A Welsh scheme, which is not aligned with England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, only serves to increase cost and complexity for businesses operating across the UK, makes the objective of improving recycling more difficult and could lead to a reduction in products available in Wales.”

All four UK nations had been working together to agree a joint approach, with Wales becoming the last nation to plan to include glass in its DRS. This followed a row under the previous Tory UK government, which refused the Scottish government permission to include glass in their version.

The glass industry has also lobbied against the material being included in DRS, preferring it to remain part of household recycling.

There is no start date currently set for Wales, while consumers in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland will be incentivised to return plastic and metal containers to shops from 2027 (though there has been talk of some delay, as reported by Harpers back in April).

Chapman concluded: “I would urge the Welsh government to carefully consider all cross-border issues in the development of its scheme to ensure that Welsh businesses can have the easiest transition into any new scheme proposals.”

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