The Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) has called on the Welsh Government to exclude glass from its Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) to ensure it is a workable system for local shops.
Concerned about the lack of progress in Wales regarding DRS, the ACS has written to sustainability minister Llyr Gruffydd MS, highlighting that we are now less than 15 months away from the introduction of DRS in the rest of the UK, and that the Welsh Government still has yet to appoint a Deposit Management Organisation (DMO) to run its scheme.
The letter flagged how the absence of a scheme administrator has meant no decisions have been made on how the day-to-day operations will work, or what type of repayment retailers will receive for hosting a return point, or what types of exemptions will be available to local shops.
The timing of these decisions is reaching “a critical point”, as the proposed scheme in Wales is far more complicated due to the inclusion of glass along with PET and metal containers.
It warns that retailers taking part in the scheme would otherwise have to invest in far more expensive ‘soft drop’ reverse vending machines, or have to deal with the potential for broken glass going across the till point as part of a manual return approach. In addition, glass containers would not have a deposit attached on launch, meaning retailers would face increased complexity and costs without any additional financial support.
ACS called for glass to be excluded from the Welsh DRS in line with the rest of the UK, as its inclusion significantly increases costs and operational challenges for retailers.
ACS, along with a wide range of other producers, retailers and trade associations, has called on the Welsh Government to appoint a DMO as soon as possible. Exchange for Change have already been appointed to run the scheme in the rest of the UK and are making significant progress on defining the detailed requirements of the scheme to make it work practically. ACS has warned that without a decision imminently, the Welsh scheme will have no chance of launching successfully in October 2027.
ACS chief executive Ed Woodall said: “It is crucial that Welsh Government urgently appoints a Deposit Return Scheme administrator in order to give businesses the time they need to prepare. Retailers in the rest of the UK are starting to make decisions now about how they’ll take part in the scheme next October, so any further delay in confirming the details of the scheme in Wales will leave Welsh businesses falling behind.
“We firmly believe that the best chance for DRS to be successful is for the scheme to be interoperable across the UK, and urge the Welsh Government to make a sensible, practical decision to avoid unintended consequences for retailers, consumers and producers alike.”
No comments yet