Wales to launch its own Deposit Return Scheme

The Welsh government has announced that it will no longer participate in the imminent UK-wide Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) as it looks to launch its own initiative. Upon making the announcement, deputy first minister Huw Irranca-Davies said the Welsh government was going to create a "Deposit Return Scheme that delivers for Wales".

Under a DRS, when a person buys a drink they are charged a small refundable deposit. They can then claim back the levy by returning the empty container to a designated return point.

The UK government and devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland had previously confirmed that a DRS will be launched across the UK in October 2027. Following a number of back and forths regarding the scheme's introduction, it was confirmed in April 2024 that there will be three separate schemes from 2027: one covering England and Northern Ireland, and others in each of Scotland and Wales. However, Wales has now decided to go it alone.

"Wales [is] already ranked second in the world for recycling," said Irranca-Davies. "It places us in a unique position of implementing a scheme into an already high recycling nation. That means that to develop a DRS that will deliver benefit to Wales necessitates an approach which looks beyond recycling; one that will support Wales to build on our progress to date and take the next step by supporting the transition to reuse.

"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."

'Extremely disappointing'
David Chapman, executive director of trade body UKHospitality Cymru, said it was extremely disappointing that the Welsh government has abandoned the collaborative effort to develop aligned DRS across the UK. "Successful DRS will deliver maximum alignment and interoperability between nations," he said. "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. 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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