THE DDRS Alliance, which campaigns for the introduction of a digital Deposit Return Scheme (DRS), has claimed the delayed launch date of a UK-wide DRS until October 2027 and the ‘raft of compromises and deferred positions’ underlines the need to look at an ‘updated and alternative’ solution.
DDRS Alliance has been vocal in urging the progress of a DRS as ‘fast as practicable’ to limit litter and pollution. The organisation said a launch date of October 2027 seems ‘ambitious but achievable’ but said the joint policy statement highlighted the difficulty in ‘force-fitting’ a DRS solution first developed in 1984 in Sweden, to the ‘modern, omni-channel and on-the-go’ market of the UK.
Duncan Midwood, co-founder and director of DDRS Alliance, said, “A pure return-to-retail model simply won’t deliver the collection and recycling rates the UK needs to achieve. The solution proposed here is to exempt many retailers from their duty to take back drink containers – including hospitality, schools and leisure centres. Without an effective return network, any UK solution is doomed to failure.
“Removing the requirement for online retailers to take back containers is the only option the government has in order to avoid a cul-de-sac later on (as was seen in Scotland) – when limited to an RVM-based DRS solution. But kicking this un-recyclable can down the road does not solve the problem – it simply passes it to the next political regime or the DMO to solve. Enabling kerbside returns through a digital DRS is the only way known to eliminate this thorny issue and free up the DMO to get on with the implementation.”
DDRS Alliance believes that glass is a big issue in a DRS due to the current ‘outdated’ return-to-retail model in using reverse vending machines (RVMs) and that using an alternative model, such as Digital DRS, can ‘easily enable’ glass to be included in a DRS utlising kerbside collections.
Midwood added, “Force-fitting a UK DRS into a conventional RVM-based DRS has been at the heart of the challenges seen in Scotland and the challenges to come in aligning the four UK nations and implementing a fit-for-purpose DRS that will stand the test of time. And it will only get harder as packaging evolves. Including glass can easily be resolved using digital DRS. Online take-back disappears as an issue with a digital DRS solution as does the challenge of providing accessibility to the whole population.”
Jane Martin, CEO of environmental charity City to Sea, said the DRS delay is ‘yet another example of persistent, frustrating delays’ at a time when action is crucial.
“The irony is not lost that this announcement comes amid negotiations for a UN Global Plastics Treaty to end plastic pollution,” she added. “As a founding member of the High Ambition Coalition to End Plastic Pollution, the UK supports a treaty that binds countries to a circular approach to plastics and ensures urgent action and effective interventions. However, the government continues to delay a policy that has a proven significant impact. In Latvia, the scheme achieved an 80% return rate in just two years, equating to more than half a billion packaging units returned.”
