Deposit Scheme for Drinks Containers (England and Northern Ireland) Regulations 2024

We are all familiar with the destructive impact of litter. In recent years, we have seen littered drinks containers blight our marine environment, but it does not stop there. According to a recent report from Keep Britain Tidy, littered drinks bottles and cans along our roadsides are killing millions of our native mammals every year. This is devastating our rarest and most important small mammals such as shrews, bank voles and wood mice. We must act to protect our natural environment.

A deposit return scheme established under this instrument will also promote a fairer society. Obligations will be placed on drinks producers to ensure that containers are collected and recycled. This is consistent with the well-established “polluter pays” principle. We have set an ambitious target for the scheme to collect 90% of in-scope containers by the third year of operation.

Laid in draft before the House on 25 November 2024, this instrument establishes, in England and Northern Ireland, a deposit return scheme for drinks containers. Under a deposit return scheme, a person who is supplied with a drink in a container that is in scope of the instrument pays a deposit that can be redeemed when it is returned for recycling. The scheme design in this instrument is informed by well-established international examples and extensive industry experience. Many of our industry partners have shared their experiences delivering these schemes across the world. The scheme will be centrally managed by an industry-led, not-for-profit organisation called the deposit management organisation.

This instrument applies to England and Northern Ireland, but my officials have worked closely with the Scottish Government, who are amending their existing legislation to launch simultaneously across England, Northern Ireland and Scotland in October 2027. The Welsh Government have withdrawn from the four-nation DRS approach. However, we remain in close working partnership with them as they make decisions regarding a DRS in Wales. We are keen to keep the door open to provide as much interoperability of schemes across the UK as possible.

Before I turn to the detail of the instrument, I acknowledge the work of the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee, which draws this instrument to the special attention of the House on the grounds that it is politically or legally important and gives rise to issues of public policy likely to be of interest to the House. The committee highlighted questions on the scheme’s application in Scotland and Wales; the exclusion of glass; the deposit level; interactions with the extended producer responsibility for packaging scheme; and the set-up of the deposit management organisation. The committee also highlighted correspondence received from the Wildlife and Countryside Link, which is supportive of the legislation in principle but raised questions about ensuring a comprehensive return point network; the exclusion of glass; monitoring and review mechanisms; and enabling reuse.

I now draw Members’ attention to the obligations introduced by this instrument. It sets out the scope of the scheme and places obligations on drinks producers, importers and retailers. Producers of drinks in plastic and metal containers from 150 millilitres to 3 litres will be obliged to label products and charge a deposit when supplying the drink into England and Northern Ireland. They must also pay the deposit to the deposit management organisation, along with the producer fees to fund the scheme. Retailers across England and Northern Ireland will be obliged to participate in the scheme by charging a deposit on plastic and metal drinks containers then taking the containers back and refunding the deposit. They are also required to pass the collected containers to the deposit management organisation for recycling and to display information to consumers so that they understand how the scheme works. These obligations on producers and retailers across England and Northern Ireland will start from October 2027, when the scheme is launched.

To administer the scheme, this instrument requires the appointment of the deposit management organisation. It allows for certain provisions to come into force on the day after the instrument is made. These are necessary for the appointment of the deposit management organisation and the establishment of the administrative arrangements in advance of the scheme launching. The deposit management organisation, which will be appointed in April 2025, will be obliged to meet collection targets, pay return point operators for collecting the containers, recycle the collected containers and pay national enforcement authorities.

The instrument provides powers for the deposit management organisation to set deposit levels, prescribe labelling, interact with other schemes, set producer fees, calculate handling fees for return points and exempt some retailers from hosting a return point. Under the “polluter pays” principle, it is the responsibility of businesses to bear the costs of managing the packaging that they place on the market. Through specific return point exemptions based on store size, proximity to another return point and suitable premises grounds, this instrument also protects small businesses across England and Northern Ireland, which are vital to our high streets and are the backbone of our economy.

Finally, this instrument makes provision for monitoring and enforcement activities by the Environment Agency and local authority trading standards to ensure that mandated businesses and the deposit management organisation are compliant.

In conclusion, the need for a deposit return scheme is plain to see. This scheme will not only improve recycling rates and provide better-quality material for recycling but make a difference to people’s daily lives. It will encourage people to see waste as a valuable resource and, by reducing litter, it will improve local communities. With this scheme, we can turn back the plastic tide. I beg to move.

Coca-Cola is keen to see the DRS—the deposit return scheme—considered as part of the extended producer responsibility. Is that something the Minister can confirm this afternoon?

The Minister concluded by saying that the monitoring and enforcement will be done by, among others, trading standards and local authorities. Are the Government convinced that they will have the resources to do this? Obviously, it is an additional responsibility over and above what they are currently doing in relation to food standards and other commitments.

Finally, if glass is to be excluded at this time, when do the Government envisage glass being included? As I understand it, glass is included in most other jurisdictions, so a big chunk of deposit returns will be excluded if glass is not included.

With those few queries, I lend my support to the scheme.

Those are the issues that most interest me in this SI, which I strongly support.

Despite the Explanatory Memorandum referring to the instrument enacting the “polluter pays” principle from the Environment Act, I can hardly be excited about the fact that it has taken so long to reach this point, as 2021 has disappeared over the horizon. The first Defra consultation was in February 2019, six years ago. That first consultation response was published within four months. The next consultation in March 2021 was not published until January 2023, nearly 18 months after it closed. The responses showed that 83% of respondents were in favour of a DRS. Was Defra waiting for a 100% response before it acted?