The Welsh Government has announced that the introduction of a Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) in Wales will likely be delayed.
DRS are designed to improve recycling rates of certain drinks containers, especially single-use plastic containers. They work by charging the customer a deposit on certain containers, and the deposit will be returned to that customer when they deposit their used container at a dedicated collection point. Where the schemes have been implemented in other countries, they have been proven to significantly reduce drinks container litter and increase recycling rates.
The development of such schemes in the UK has so far had troubled beginnings. Back in May 2020 Scotland began to bring the Deposit and Return Scheme for Scotland Regulations SSI 2020/154 info force which will ultimately see the establishment of a DRS in Scotland. However, due to various issues the actual implementation of the DRS has been delayed multiple times and is still not in operation.
Then in April 2024, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) published a joint policy statement on behalf of themselves, the Scottish and Welsh Governments and the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) in Northern Ireland setting out that all four UK countries would work together to align the launch of DRS across the UK. The initial timeline suggested that this would result in an operational DRS in October 2027, with the initial work to establish it taking place between 2025 and 2027.
However, Huw Irranca-Davies MS, Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs, has issued a statement to say that the launch of the DRS in Wales will be delayed. Whilst the statement acknowledges the importance of a DRS in supporting recycling and the circular economy in Wales, it says "In partnership with the UK and Devolved Governments, we have been working to initiate a joint process to appoint the Deposit Management Organisation for our respective schemes later this month. However, in the time available it has not been possible to address the issues to the operation of devolution caused by the United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020, inherited by the UK Government from the previous administration. This unfortunately means that we are not able to proceed with the joint process or notify the WTO in relation to the scheme at this point."
It confirms that Wales will "continue our active engagement to develop a scheme that supports the transition to reuse for all drinks containers including those made from glass."
As noted in the statement, Wales has the second highest recycling rates in the world, which means it would be implementing a DRS into an already high recycling nation. In this context, Wales would prefer to work on developing a scheme that is right for them.
Meanwhile, England, Scotland and Northern Ireland has confirmed that it will continue work on jointly developing their DRS in order to implement it by October 2027, and will also continue working with the Welsh Government as they develop a DRS in Wales.
