Plastic recycling scheme delayed to October 2025 for most of UK

Plans to levy a deposit on plastic bottles to boost recycling in England, Wales and Northern Ireland have been delayed again by the government.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said on Friday that the deposit return scheme, which was first announced in 2018, would not be introduced until October 2025.

While Defra said the announcement moved the scheme “a step closer��, it indicated that the programme could yet slip back further, describing October 2025 as “a stretching target date”. The most recent target start date had been the end of 2024.

The DRS aims to encourage more recycling by allowing consumers to redeem a deposit if they return plastic bottles to designated points described as “reverse vending machines”.

The Scottish government plans to introduce a similar scheme, which will add a 20p deposit to each item, from August.

Scotland’s programme will cover drinks containers made of steel, aluminium and polyethylene plastic but also glass bottles.

Defra announced the delay as part of its response to a consultation process on the scheme. It said it still intended to set up a Deposit Management Organisation, run by retailers, to manage the programme. Shops will also need to establish return points.

Friday’s announcement definitively ruled out including glass bottles in the scheme for England and Northern Ireland, although they will be covered in Wales.

Even at the final hurdle, this government bottled it and excluded glass from the scheme.

Environment minister Rebecca Pow said the government wanted to help people to “do the right thing” and stop plastics from polluting green spaces, rivers and seas.

“That is why we are moving ahead using our powers from our landmark Environment Act to introduce a Deposit Return Scheme for drinks containers,” Pow said.

But the British Retail Consortium, a trade body, said meeting the postponed deadline would still be “incredibly challenging”.

“Retailers’ experience of establishing a Scottish DRS shows that implementation is immensely more expensive and complex than anticipated, which would make a 2025 launch incredibly challenging,” said Andrew Opie, BRC director of food and sustainability.

“The significant investment required by the scheme would create immediate and large costs for retailers, increasing inflationary pressures at a time when many households are already struggling,” he added.

Environmental groups meanwhile expressed frustration at the programme’s slow pace and the exclusion of glass in England and Northern Ireland.

Megan Randles, political campaigner at the charity Greenpeace UK, said there had been “five years of dithering and pollution” over deposits.

“Even at the final hurdle, this government bottled it and excluded glass from the scheme,” she said. “In what kind of world is collecting glass drinks containers not an essential part of a system designed to collect drinks containers?”

Letter in response to this report:

And finally, a Brexit benefit / Heather Lodge , Surbiton, Surrey, UK