MPs approve a Deposit Return Scheme in England and Northern Ireland!
Tuesday the 22nd January marked a huge step towards a healthier ocean.
MPs in the House of Commons voted to approve regulations for a Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) in England and Northern Ireland!
"This marks a fantastic win for our seas. With plans already in motion in Scotland and the Welsh Government exploring an ambitious scheme to include reuse, this is a great step towards schemes starting across the UK in October 2027.
Sandy Luk, Chief Executive at the Marine Conservation Society
Sandy continued, "Last year, 97% of surveyed UK beaches were polluted with bottles and cans, posing threat to marine life like seabirds and seals. Deposit return schemes will not only boost recycling and move us towards a circular economy where nothing is thrown away but also significantly reduce this kind of beach pollution. We’re excited to support governments and industry in launching these schemes as soon as possible."
Mary Creagh (Nature Minister) introduced the regulations, stating the importance of the ‘polluter pays’ principle. She specifically highlighted the Marine Conservation Society’s work campaigning for the introduction of Deposit Return Schemes. We’d like to extend our thanks to Minister Creagh for meeting with us to discuss the positive impacts DRS and wider Circular Economy measures would have on our beaches and coastal communities. We look forward to working together alongside industry and governments of the UK to implement successful schemes for all.
A beach cleaner picking up a plastic bottle off the coast to put into a black bag
Credit: Triocean via Shutterstock
It was reassuring to hear the Baroness confirm that the UK Government has no intentions to deviate from its October 2027 deadline.
What does a Deposit Return Scheme do?
A Deposit Return Scheme means that you pay a small deposit on top of the price of a drink. When you return the empty drinks container to a collection point, you get the deposit back. Collection points are typically located in supermarkets or other shops. Deposit Return Schemes run with huge levels of success across the world: the Deposit Return Scheme in Germany sees return rates of 98%.
Litter is often seen as worthless. Deposit Return Schemes give litter a true value, incentivising people to recycle their own drinks containers, as well as encouraging people to pick up littered containers they find. If everyone places more value on their drinks waste, it could make a huge dent in the amount of litter we see on our beaches and other wild spaces.
Why do we need a Deposit Return Scheme?
A plastic bottle left on the shoreline
Credit: Canetti via Shutterstock
It’s estimated that the UK uses 14 billion plastic drinks bottles and nine billion drinks cans each year. It’s almost inevitable that some of these will end up polluting the environment—and our volunteers know this all too well. Analysis by Keep Britain Tidy suggests that small plastic bottles and non-alcoholic drinks cans make up 43% of the volume of all litter.
Last year, 97% of UK beaches surveyed through our Beachwatch initiative were polluted with bottles and cans.
It’s clear that our beaches are suffering under the burden of littered bottles and cans. As well as spoiling the look of our beautiful coastline, these items can pose a real problem to wildlife. Plastic bottles can break down into microplastics, which—if ingested by marine animals—can harm their health, while sharp edges on drinks cans may also injure wildlife. Drinks pollution is so widespread that hermit crabs have even been spotted using bottle caps rather than shells.
To preserve our natural environment, it’s crucial that we all move towards a more circular economy, where products are kept in use for as long as possible through recycling, reuse and repair.
Next steps across the UK
England and Northern Ireland plan to launch a joint DRS on 1 October 2027, focussing on plastic (PET), aluminium, and steel drinks containers. Glass is currently excluded. Although we were keen to see its inclusion, we are pleased to see glass will be part of a separate extended producer responsibility scheme. The scheme will be administered by a Deposit Management Organisation (DMO), expected to be appointed in April 2025. Scotland plans to align its scheme with this timetable. Wales is yet to confirm plans for their DRS, but we hope to see it match the suggested ambition to include glass and reuse.
What about glass?
A glass bottle left on the sand
Credit: Natasha Ewins
On the 20th of January 2025, Baroness Hayman noted that glass will be subject to fees under the UK’s Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging scheme (pEPR), and that both governments are committed to ensuring that the DRS and pEPR schemes run alongside each other. She added that the UK Government may consider potential amendments to its pEPR scheme once it becomes clearer what the Welsh DRS looks like.
