Overview of Deposit Return Scheme
Please find below the answers to the following questions. These responses were written in May 2024.
The responses are based on the government response to the consultation for England, Wales and Northern Ireland. However, there is also some limited information on the Scottish DRS scheme.
What is a Deposit Return Scheme (DRS)?
What is the aim of a DRS?
What are the other benefits of a DRS?
How is DRS financed?
Where will the DRS scheme operate?
What are the timescales?
Who manages the schemes?
What does the Deposit Management Organisation (DMO) do?
What targets are included in the DRS scheme?
What is included in the DRS scheme?
Why is glass not included in England and Northern Ireland?
Will products need a label?
Who is obligated under a DRS?
How much is the deposit?
What do I need to know about retailer return points?
Do you get paid to host a return point?
Will online grocery retailers offer a takeback scheme?
Do I need planning permission for a reverse vending machine?
Why is there not a digital DRS in all countries?
What is a digital DRS?
What about local authorities who currently look this material?
Who will be enforcing the DRS?
What happens before DRS starts?
What is a Deposit Return Scheme (DRS)?
A DRS puts a small charge on the cost of an item of packaging which is returned to a customer when the items is recycled via a dedicated recycling scheme. The items are normally returned to a shop. One method used by shops for collection is a reverse vending machines which can identify the item being returned and ensure the appropriate amount of money is returned. Alternatively a manual return scheme can be used.
A DRS scheme is aiming to:
- Increase recycling rates for in-scope containers from 70% to 90% or higher inline with similar schemes.
- Increase the quality of recycling by creating cleaner less contaminated material with less rejects. Producers will then have access to high quality material.
- Reduce litter - it should lead to 85% fewer drink containers being littered
What are the other benefits of a DRS?
DRS should create 3000-4300 jobs and provide economic stimulation.
Unredeemed deposits will part-fund the scheme. There is also funding from selling the material and producer registration fees.
(Registration fees prices must consider the size of the producer and the DMO consult with producers).
Private finance needed to fund the start-up, implementation and operation costs of the scheme from day one.
Where will the DRS scheme operate?
There are DRS scheme planned across the UK.
The four nations are wokring on the interoperability of systems.
Spring 2025 – Regulations in place and (DMO) in place in home nations.
Spring 2025 to Spring 2026 – Establishment of the DMO(s) as an organisation capable of running DRS and providing businesses with the information needed for DRS launch.
Spring 2026 to Autumn 2027 – Roll out to allow industry time to make required changes.
October 2027 – Launch. There is also provision for a post launch review.
A Deposit Management Organisation(s) who will be appointed through an application process set out in the regulations. This will likely be for 5 + years. They will need to apply via England/Northern Ireland and Wales as there are separate regulations.
The DMO could be an individual company or trade association. They will need support for their application.
What does the Deposit Management Organisation (DMO) do?
Key priorities for DMO are:
- Testing how online retailers can provide a take back scheme
- Setting up an upper limit deposit value
- Reviewing the impact on small businesses including producers
- Compliance monitoring and enforcement including a charging scheme for the regulators
Responsible for:
- Managing the scheme
- Meeting the collection target (fined imposed if they are not met)
- Initial compliance
- DMO are not for profit
What targets are included in the DRS scheme?
The target collection rates per country in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are:
Year 1 70%
Year 2 80%
Year 3 90%
These have to be met in each country and the producers will pass this responsibility onto the DMO when they register.
Producers will need to report to the DMO by nation the number of drink containers sold – will explore the practicalities of this.
The Scottish target is 90% by 2024.
What is included in the DRS scheme?
| PET bottles | HDPE bottles | Steel Cans | Aluminium Cans | Glass bottles | Individual items | Multi Pack items | Size (all in) | |
| England | ✓ | X | ✓ | ✓ | X | ✓ | ✓ | 150ml - 3l |
| Northern Ireland | ✓ | X | ✓ | ✓ | X* | ✓ | ✓ | 150ml - 3l |
| Wales | ✓ | X | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | 150ml - 3l |
| Scotland | ✓ | X | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | 150ml - 3l |
* The government have stated that 'Northern Ireland will keep under review the inclusion of glass when the DRS is fully operational to ensure glass beverage containers are meeting the relevant recycling targets'.
Anything not in scope will be subject to Extended Producer Responsbility (EPR).
Why is glass not included in England and Northern Ireland?
Glass isn’t included in England and Northern Ireland based on safety and complexity in use of Reverse Vending Machines and handling costs. Glass is therefore in scope for EPR.
Northern Ireland will keep in review the inclusion of glass to ensure they are meeting the relevant recycling targets.
Wales is keeping glass in to align and help meet existing regulations and to help them become net zero and zero waste by 2050. This decision was also reached based on responses and that digital DRS should allow collection via the kerbside infrastructure reducing the reliance on reverse vending machines (which are problematic for glass). They are also starting from a higher baseline and therefore glass gives a better return.
Caps are not needed but encouraged when products are returned.
Yes there will be a mandatory mark to identify the product is part of a DRS and an identification marker (bar code or QR code) to enable the container to be recognised at a return point. Details to be decided by DMO.
Regulations to set out obligations for the producers, retailers and DMO.
Producers includes brand owners or manufacturers of in-scope containers as well as people importing drink containers. People who manufacture the containers are not in-scope.
Producers have to add the deposit when item is sold and pay a producer registration fee to the DMO. They also have a register and report data to the DMO.
Retailers – people who sell an in-scope container directly to the consumer.
They will need to add the deposit value to the purchase price and ensuring pricing information is clearly displayed. They also have to operate a return point.
Small run size (less than 5000 pa) exempt.
No minimum but will be a maximum – to be decided in next phase of work. DMO need to consider the environmental, social and economic impacts of the deposit level. Deposit could be fixed or variable based on container size, format or material type. There will be alignment of the deposit amount acorss the nations.
VAT will only be collected on deposits not redeemed.
What do I need to know about retailer return points?
Retailers in scope obligated to host a return point – exemption applications to the DMO. Exemption for:
-Breach of safety
- Close proximity to another return point
Exempt places (reviewed every 3 years) should have signage to say why exempt and direct to nearest point.
DMO to check the placement of return points to ensure they are accessible. Consider for example high footfall areas. DMO should consider working with retailers, businesses and local authorises to have return points outside retail-specific locations.
Voluntary return points can also be set up.
Retailers can refuse items not identifiable as a DRS container or if the container is soiled, not empty or on religious or ethical grounds.
Do you get paid to host a return point?
Businesses will get a handling fee.
To set the level of this a DMO should consider:
- Cost of purchase, lease, maintenance or upkeep of any collection/storage infrastructure, including any vehicle used for collections
- Cost of materials for collection / storage of containers
- Space requirements of return point
- Staff
- Utility cost of operating a return point
Will online grocery retailers offer a takeback scheme?
Yes from day 1 there will be a takeback service for online especially large online grocery retailers.
Do hotels, café, restaurant etc need to charge a deposit?
In close loop situations like hotels, cafes businesses do not need to pass on the deposit cost or host a return point but need material to go back to the DMO.
Do I need planning permission for a reverse vending machine?
Permitted development will be put in for reverse vending machines where planning permission would be needed.
Why is there not a digital deposit in all countries?
This is only being considered in Wales at the moment because of:
- Concerns over quality
- Fraud and ongoing costs
- Labelling changes needed for a digital DRS not currently possible
However, there are carbon saving benefits of utilising an existing scheme. The DMO and industry in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are being asked to understand practicalities and feasibility of introducing a DRS.
Digital DRS is an emerging technology solution that has the potential to make Deposit Return Systems even more attractive and convenient for consumers of drinks both at home and ‘away from home’.
The technology is primarily centred on the use of serialised coding on packaging, linked to scanning of containers via a smartphone app and would allow consumers to scan items themselves to redeem their deposit. Potential advantages to this approach include:
Flexible return points generating consumer convenience.
Integration into the kerbside collections system allowing deposits to be redeemed at the home, using existing infrastructure.
Reduced volume of beverage containers needing collection via a retailer.
Better fraud prevention.
Lower implementation and running costs.
This technology is developing rapidly in response to interest from across the industry value chain, including the retail sector and the packaging producers.
Wales is looking at digital DRS.
What about local authorities who currently collect this material?
Local authorises or waste operators can separate out in-scope drink containers and return them into the scheme if they met the quality requirement. They will then receive the deposit amount.
Who will be enforcing the DRS?
Environmental regulators in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are the scheme regulators. The DMO will provide the initial monitoring compliance with major breaches going to the regulator.
Retailer obligations via Trading Standards.
Compliance monitoring by environmental regulators to be funded by the producers as part of their fees to the DMO.
What happens before DRS starts?
Producers of packaging due to be captured under DRS to continue to buy PRN / PERNs in the interim.
.jpg) |
Deposit Return Schemes (DRS) Position Statement Deposit return schemes (DRSs) involve increasing the cost of particular products and having the extra cost refunded to you when you return it to a specific location. |
Useful links
- Introducing a Deposit Return Scheme for drink containers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Government response (20 January 2023)
- Introducing a deposit return scheme in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Summary of consultation responses (23rd July 2021)
- Consultation - "Introducing a Deposit Return Scheme in England, Wales and Northern Ireland". Closed 4 Jun 2021 | Opened 24 Mar 2021. 2,590 responses
- Consultation on introducing a Deposit Return Scheme in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Summary of responses (July 2019)
- A Deposit Return Scheme for Scotland. Closed 25 Sep 2018 | Opened 27 Jun 2018. The consultation received 3,215 responses. This comprised responses from 159 organisations, 2,008 individuals and 1,048 campaign respondents.
- A Deposit Return Scheme for Scotland - Analysis of Responses - Published 21 February 2019
- Consistent Collections of Flexible Plastics (bpf.co.uk)
- Position Statement: Deposit Return Schemes (bpf.co.uk)
- Material Quality and Used Plastic (bpf.co.uk)
- Understanding the Debate About Plastic (bpf.co.uk)
