Hospitality welcomes delay of deposit return scheme until 2027

Hospitality industry bodies have welcomed the government's decision to postpone the launch of the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) for drinks containers until October 2027 – four years later than originally planned.

The scheme is designed to boost recycling of single-use bottles and drinks cans by adding a small cash deposit onto their price. This would then be refunded when consumers returned their drinks containers.

A government update yesterday (25 April) confirmed hospitality venues will no longer be required to act as return points, but venues can voluntarily host one.

The rollout of the DRS has been hit by repeated delays since it was first announced by then-environment secretary Michael Gove in 2018.

It had been due to launch in 2023, then was pushed back to 2024 and subsequently delayed until October 2025 to give businesses more time to prepare.

Following the UK government's decision on a UK Internal Market Act exemption for DRS in June 2023, the Scottish government previously intended to align its own DRS with the 2025 launch date. This was after the UK government demanded Scotland row back on plans to include glass in its scheme.

Currently, Wales is the only UK nation set to include glass bottles in its DRS.

But in a written statement yesterday, Robbie Moore, the minister for water and rural growth, said the UK government would continue to pressure the Welsh government to exclude glass from the scheme.

He added: "Following extensive engagement with industry, who will be responsible for delivering the DRS, and a review of international approaches to DRS implementation, additional time will be needed to efficiently and effectively roll out the schemes across the UK.

"With the agreement of ministerial colleagues across the devolved administrations, the DRS will go live in October 2027."

UKHospitality chief executive Kate Nicholls welcomed the delay as "recognition of the significant amount of work that still needs to take place to make these schemes work".

Leon Thompson, executive director of UKHospitality Scotland, said it would have been "costly and challenging" for Scottish hospitality businesses to act as return points and welcomed the move to an opt-in system.

In Wales, David Chapman, executive director of UKHospitality Cymru, called for a UK-wide consensus on materials included in the scheme.

"It remains the case that Wales will be an outlier in some respects but the inclusion of glass is less of a concern now that hospitality venues are not required to act as return points," said Chapman.

Emma McClarkin, chief executive of the British Beer and Pub Association warned different approaches to the scheme across the UK would present "a huge challenge for the industry".

Across the UK, consumers purchase an estimated 31 billion single-use drinks containers each year – 12 billion plastic drinks bottles, 14 billion drinks cans, and five billion glass bottles. Current collection rates are between 70 to 75% and all UK administrations are aiming to increase levels to at least 90%.

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