Industry Concerns Over Cost and Complexity

Drinks producer Radnor Hills described the current situation in Wales as a “complete and utter mess,” warning that differences between systems on either side of the England-Wales border would create major difficulties for producers. William Watkins. Chief executive of Radnor Hills. Said he had hoped for “a complete change in direction” but claimed that the “realities of coming into power and coming up against some very entrenched views” in the civil service had meant the new government was continuing the previous administration’s agenda.

Andy Bagnall. Director general of the BSDA. Said requiring glass collection from the start would have “very negative consequences for businesses and consumers” and said it could add “something like 50p per bottle” in costs for producers. “Higher prices or lower choice, neither of those is a good outcome for consumers,” he added.

Proposed System and Industry Opposition

Wales’ deposit return scheme (DRS), which is due to come into force on 1 October 2027, will see shoppers pay a deposit on drinks containers which is then refunded when they are returned for recycling. But the industry said the Welsh government’s inclusion of glass, unlike schemes launching in other parts of the UK, risked driving up costs.

Glass is seen as the main sticking point because including it makes the scheme significantly more complex and expensive, requiring dedicated collection infrastructure and more costly reverse vending machines. Schemes elsewhere in the UK are launching without glass to keep costs down and simplify cross-border systems.

Drinks industry representatives said they had warned the Welsh government that companies were likely to pass the additional costs on to shoppers or withdraw products from sale altogether. Watkins warned that Wales accounted for a small share of the wider UK drinks market, meaning some companies could decide it was “simply not worth” supplying certain products.

Political and Regulatory Challenges

Ahead of the Senedd election, Plaid Cymru’s manifesto said it would press ahead with “including glass when this becomes practically feasible” in the deposit return scheme. Both the BSDA and drinks firms said ministers faced a tight deadline to act, warning there were only “weeks” left to appoint a deposit management organisation (DMO) if Wales is to launch a scheme alongside the rest of the UK by 1 October 2027.

Only one organisation, Exchange for Change, is known to have applied to be the DMO in Wales. It is already contracted to run the schemes in England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. The window for applications closed on 2 June, but no decision has yet been made.

While the Welsh government is understood to require 3,500 reverse vending machines to handle glass at the outset of the DRS scheme in Wales, the proposal from Exchange for Change is to launch with 100 suitable machines around the country. Those with knowledge of the discussions said this was a key sticking point.

Bagnall said there was now “no time left” to design a separate Welsh system from scratch, which is the fall-back option within the regulations if a DMO cannot be appointed. “We need decisions in the next few weeks if we’re to have any realistic chance of getting a scheme up and running by October 2027,” he said.

Owen Derbyshire from Keep Wales Tidy urged the new Welsh government to press ahead with the plans and accused the drinks industry of “misinformation.” The Welsh government said it would “continue to work closely with industry to ensure the arrangements are right” and stated it was “inaccurate to suggest there has been a delay” in the process.