On Monday 25th November, 2024, the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs laid regulations in Parliament to ensure that the Deposit Return Scheme in England and Northern Ireland will indeed go ahead as planned in 2027, despite Wales’s decision to develop its own scheme.
As Defra re-affirms commitment to a Deposit Return Scheme across England and Northern Ireland with the publication of the regulations, Keep Britain Tidy issued a joint statement of support alongside a coalition of NGOs for ‘getting DRS done’ regardless of the developments between the UK and Welsh governments.
Countries running a Deposit Return Scheme can see return rates for containers covered by the scheme climbing to up to 98%, whereas the UK is currently facing drinks container recycling rates at just 70%. Polling from Survation in May 2024 showed that:
- 75% of those surveyed across the UK said they support the introduction of the Deposit Return Scheme, with just 6% opposing.
- More than eight out of 10 people (85%) say that litter is a problem in their area.
Keep Britain Tidy was joined in its calls by several other leading environmental groups, including the Marine Conservation Society, Reloop and Trash Free Trails, alongside Deirdre Costigan MP, Member of Parliament for Ealing Southall and Chair of the Tidy Britain All-Party Parliamentary Group.
Keep Britain Tidy’s Chief Executive, Allison Ogden-Newton OBE, said: “The environment cannot afford further delays.”
“Drinks containers make up more than half of the litter that’s out in the environment and in our communities. Every day, 22 million bottles are ‘lost’ from the recycling loop to litter, landfill or incineration. This is not acceptable and in DRS we have a policy that can make a real difference, reducing littering of cans and bottles by up to 85%. We stand fully behind Environment Secretary Steve Reed and Defra on the implementation of a Deposit Return Scheme as soon as possible.
“It is mortifying and disappointing – although not entirely surprising – to read headlines that suggest that further delay to the scheme would be beneficial. For the sake of the environment, we all need to work together and put our full support behind the scheme.”
Deirdre Costigan MP, Member of Parliament for Ealing Southall and Chair of the Tidy Britain All-Party Parliamentary Group, said: “As MPs, we constantly hear from local people who are disgusted with the mass of litter that is strewn across our streets and the countryside. Every bottle and can on the ground is not only directly damaging to nature and spoils our town centres, but is a waste of resources that could be recycled and used again.
"It's great news that the government has moved ahead so quickly with the Deposit Return Scheme following years of delay, and I call upon all my colleagues across parliament to get behind this popular scheme and ensure its delivery on schedule.”
