News
Glass excluded from DRS in England and NI
The Welsh and Scottish governments will make separate statements of the possible inclusion of glass in their schemes, over which they have a certain level of autonomy.
In July, parliamentary under-secretary at DEFRA Mary Creagh confirmed that Labour was planning to bring forward the introduction of DRS from the October 2027 date announced by the previous administration in April.
No new date has yet been announced, but Creagh did confirm this week that glass would not be included in the scheme rolled out across England and Northern Ireland.
Answering a question about the scope of the scheme from Liberal Democrat MP Sarah Dyke on 10 October, Creagh said: “In England and Northern Ireland, materials included in DRS are polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic, steel, and aluminium drink containers. Glass will not be in scope of the scheme.”
Providing further details of the planned scheme, Creagh added: “The DRS for drinks containers across all four nations will include single-use drinks containers from 150ml to 3 litres.
“Once the DRS for drinks containers is introduced, the Deposit Management Organisation will be required to reach a collection rate of 90% of DRS containers in year three of the scheme.
“Further details, including monetary analysis on the reduction of litter, will be provided in the DRS Final Impact Assessment. This will be published when the Statutory Instrument is laid in parliament.”
‘Still time to get this right’
The announcement has drawn criticism from anti-plastic pollution not-for-profit organisation City to Sea, with CEO Jane Martin issuing a statement urging ministers to change course before the final proposals are published.
“Not only was drinks-related litter found on 93% of beaches surveyed in England, but glass was the third most common item collected,” Martin said.
“For a Government looking to create a zero-waste economy by 2050, excluding glass from a proven initiative that reduces waste, increases circularity, and promotes sustainable habits is illogical.
“Implementing a Deposit Return Scheme that includes glass is not unprecedented. More than 50 schemes exist around the world and 46 include glass. The four remaining schemes that do not include glass have a separate glass returnable system.
“Defra is supposed to be undertaking a ‘rapid review’ of the scheme, the results of which we have still not seen. There is still time to get this right.”
Jenni Hume, UK and Ireland director at Reloop, also expressed disappointment with the announcement: "While we recognise that this decision was originally made by the previous Government following intense industry lobbying on glass, we had hoped that new Ministers would engage meaningfully with environmental experts prior to finalising this position. We will now be working across the four nations to help deliver ambitious schemes on schedule by October 2027."
In other news, Food Manufacture rounds up the recently announced new product launches from brands including Doughlicious, THIS and Dell’Ugo.
