Wales has decided to bring its plan to launch a deposit return scheme in line with the rest of the UK.
Last year, the devolved Welsh government withdrew from plans for a UK scheme, pointing to the absence of glass from the initiative.
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Huw Irranca-Davies, Wales’s deputy first minister, said industry representatives had told him the country not having a DRS scheme would be costly to manufacturers.
“We have heard clearly from industry that the scenario where a scheme is introduced in the other parts of the UK, with no scheme in place in Wales, carries the greatest risk of operational complexity and associated costs. I have therefore set out to industry that we are willing to accelerate our implementation timetable to align with the rest of the UK, which would provide for interoperability between common materials,” Irranca-Davies said.
Irranca-Davies, who is also Wales’s Secretary For Climate Change And Rural Affairs, said glass will continue to be part of the country’s DRS.
“Glass remains in scope of our scheme, as this means that in Wales, we will be able to begin to roll-out reuse as a core part of the scheme,” he said. “It also means we can continue to improve glass recycling against our baseline performance – by improving on-the-go recycling – whilst tackling the littering of all forms of drinks containers.”
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By GlobalDataIrranca-Davies added: “I recognise the need for clear arrangements to ensure there are no unintended consequences caused by the difference in scope. Specifically, industry have highlighted the need for a phased approach within which there would be no requirement to have different labelling and no fraud risk, as this would also prevent consequential impacts on current production and distribution arrangements.”
