Saturday, May 31, 2025
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
  • Terms & Conditions
Environmental Magazine
Advertisement
  • Home
  • News
  • Climate Change
  • Energy
  • Recycling
  • Air
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Water
No Result
View All Result
Environmental Magazine
  • Home
  • News
  • Climate Change
  • Energy
  • Recycling
  • Air
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Water
No Result
View All Result
Environmental Magazine
No Result
View All Result
Home News

DRS to be delayed until 2027

April 25, 2024
in News
A A

The UK government has announced a delay to the scheduled October 2025 start date of a UK-wide Deposit Return Scheme (DRS), which will now roll back to October 2027.

This confirmed the expectation set by a 26 March statement from Environment Secretary Steve Barclay, that a delay was to be expected given the need to ensure alignment between the UK Parliament and the various devolved administrations.

Responding to the announcement, the Recycling Association chief executive Paul Sanderson suggested this time should be used to consider whether DRS is required at all.

“As an Association, we are against the introduction of a DRS scheme as we believe it will enable cherry-picking of material, less revenue for local authorities and more vehicle movements as a result of people driving to reverse vending machines.

“Instead, we have always advocated for time to be taken to assess whether a Digital DRS scheme can be introduced instead, where people get rewarded for recycling their bottles and cans at home.

“This delay should be used to fully trial and assess the opportunity of a Digital DRS rather than wasting time and a lot of money aiming for an October 2027 roll-out of reverse vending machines everywhere.

Crystal clarity
The 25 April statement by Robbie Moore, Minister for Water and Rural Growth, said alignment had now been reached between the various UK administrations, on the inclusion of PET plastic bottles, and steel and aluminium cans. However, on glass, there is agreement to exclude it, from everyone except Wales.

Moore said he believed “including glass in any UK DRS will create undue complexity for the drinks industry and it increases storage and handling costs for retailers”.

“Glass containers are heavy and fragile, making them more difficult for consumers to return and receive the deposit they have paid, potentially forcing up the cost of their shopping.” There is also evidence that glass is littered less, comprising only 4% of litter compared to 55% for PET plastic and metal drinks containers, in Keep Britain Tidy’s 2020 litter analysis.

Nonetheless, the Welsh government intends to include glass when their own scheme launches. But the UK Internal Market Act 2020 (UKIM) means, as Moore explained, “drinks in glass containers made or imported into England, Scotland and Northern Ireland will not be subject to a Welsh DRS which includes glass.”

The Recycling Association’s Paul Sanderson commented that this was one of the weaknesses of a DRS, the difficulty in ensuring consistency in how it is implemented across the UK.

“Not including glass makes a huge amount of sense for material quality in reverse vending machines, while a consistent approach also makes labelling clearer.”

So in that sense it was “especially disappointing”, he said, that Wales plans to include it.

“Again, a Digital DRS scheme could enable glass to be collected and people could be rewarded, while still enabling people to recycle their bottles, cans and glass bottles and jars at home using existing kerbside collection scheme.

“The UK has the opportunity to become a world-leader in Digital DRS, introducing a lower cost scheme, that also makes sense for people to recycle in the convenience of their home.”

Commenting on the government’s announcement, Keep Britain Tidy’s Chief Executive, Allison Ogden-Newton OBE, said: “Their decision to postpone introduction to October 2027 is nothing short of disastrous for the environment and a slap in the face for anyone who cares about the state of litter in this country.”

She estimated that “between now and October 2027 an eye watering 25 billion bottles and cans will be littered, buried or burned.”

“So Keep Britain Tidy is urgently calling on any future government to make this the number one priority in the war against our spiralling waste crisis.”

ShareTweetSharePinSendShare

Related Articles

News

Thames Water receives £122.7m fine in reported sewage spills crackdown

May 28, 2025
News

Net zero report sets out path to cut carbon and costs for small firms

May 28, 2025
News

Scotland can reach Net Zero by 2045 but needs to step up the pace, says CCC

May 27, 2025
News

1.5°C Paris target too high for polar ice sheets, says new study

May 20, 2025
News

Traffic noise: Time to get serious?

May 20, 2025
News

Research will investigate risk of hidden microbial impact on CO2 storage

May 18, 2025

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recommended

Geospatial data and climate action: New UN report

October 11, 2024

Will the American Geophysical Union Cut All Ties With the Fossil Fuel Industry?

December 21, 2023

Don't miss it

Fossil Fuels

U.S. Steel Is a Major Source of Pollution in Pennsylvania. Will Its Sale Lock in Emissions for Another Generation?

May 30, 2025
Activism

Trump Executive Orders Violate Young People’s Rights to a Stable Climate, a Lawsuit Alleges

May 30, 2025
Fossil Fuels

Supreme Court Backs a Controversial Railroad in Utah for Carrying Oil

May 29, 2025
Energy

Clean Energy Project Cancellations Top $14 Billion So Far in 2025

May 29, 2025
Energy

What Will Tariffs Do to the Energy Economy? Here Are Three Scenarios

May 29, 2025
Fossil Fuels

Pennsylvania Fracking Company Surrenders Water Permits Over Concerns About Stream Flow

May 29, 2025
Environmental Magazine

Environmental Magazine, Latest News, Opinions, Analysis Environmental Magazine. Follow us for more news about Enviroment and climate change from all around the world.

Learn more

Sections

  • Activism
  • Air
  • Climate Change
  • Energy
  • Fossil Fuels
  • News
  • Uncategorized
  • Water

Topics

Activism Air Climate Change Energy Fossil Fuels News Uncategorized Water

Recent News

U.S. Steel Is a Major Source of Pollution in Pennsylvania. Will Its Sale Lock in Emissions for Another Generation?

May 30, 2025

Trump Executive Orders Violate Young People’s Rights to a Stable Climate, a Lawsuit Alleges

May 30, 2025

© 2023 Environmental Magazine. All rights reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Climate Change
  • Energy
  • Recycling
  • Air
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Water

© 2023 Environmental Magazine. All rights reserved.

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.