Following several years of delays, on Friday 23 January new Regulations were made to introduce a Deposit Return Scheme, or DRS, into England and Northern Ireland.  The Deposit Scheme for Drinks Containers (England and Northern Ireland) Regulations 2025 follow on from a Government commitment to launch a DRS in England and Northern Ireland in October 2027. 

The Regulations have been introduced for the purposes of “sustaining, promoting or securing an increase in the recycling of materials, and reducing the incidence of littering or fly-tipping”.  In a press release published by the Government on 27 January, Circular Economy Minister Mary Creagh noted that the DRS “is a vital step as we stop the avalanche of rubbish that is filling up our streets, rivers and oceans and protect our treasured wildlife”. 

The key premise of the scheme is that any persons supplied with a deposit item (i.e. a container drink) by a scheme supplier must pay a deposit to the scheme supplier.  Once that person returns the item to a scheme collector, they are entitled to be paid an amount equal to the amount they deposited.  A scheme supplier is a person established in the UK which supplies container drinks.  “Supplies” predominantly refers to the offer or sale of a container drink in the course of business, for consumption in the UK or the scheme area. A scheme collector is a return point operator or a take-back service provider and the Regulations envisage that many return points will be located in retail premises which supply groceries. 

Other aspects of the Regulations which are worth noting include:

  • a wide range of drinks, including water, fizzy drinks, sports drinks and squash will be caught by the Regulations; 
  • containers made of plastic and metal, with a 150ml to 3 litre capacity will be subject to the Regulations however certain registered low-volume items will be exempted; 
  • a Deposit Management Organisation (DMO) will be appointed to act as scheme administrator;
  • scheme producers (i.e. manufacturers, importers or fillers of drinks containers) must register with the DMO, keep records of the drinks they supply for at least seven years and comply with other scheme rules; 
  • in addition, scheme producers must pay to the DMO (i) a registration fee and (ii) an amount equivalent to the deposit amount for every drinks container caught by the Regulations which it supplies; 
  • the DMO will have several key responsibilities, including: 
    • setting the deposit amounts – these may be calculated by reference to container size, the materials they are made from, and whether they were supplied as single items or in multipacks;
    • making arrangements for any returned drinks containers to be recycled; and 
    • requesting certain information from scheme producers (if it deems this necessary) and reporting them to the Environment Agency or DAERA if they do not comply; 
  • the scheme collector is entitled to refuse to repay a person’s deposit if the returnable item is soiled, still contains some liquid or is damaged; and 
  • failure to comply with the Regulations may lead to criminal and/or civil penalties, including fixed and variable monetary penalties, compliance notices and enforcement undertakings. 

The Welsh and Scottish DRS regimes are expected to diverge from the English and Northern Irish regime due to disagreements over the materials included in the DRS, so it remains to be seen when a formal DRS scheme will be introduced in those jurisdictions and what it will cover. 

It is likely that we will see DRS guidance published over the course of 2025 and 2026 as the English and Northern Irish Governments flesh out the relevant requirements under the scheme, so we recommend that scheme producers, suppliers and operators keep their eyes peeled for these.  We also anticipate that once the DMO has been appointed, manufacturers, importers or fillers of drinks containers will have a better idea of the deposits which will be payable for each container. 

The DRS is undoubtedly a complex scheme which will be difficult to implement in practice.  Therefore, it remains to be seen how smoothly it can be rolled out in England and Northern Ireland, and how effective it will be once implemented.   It is also part of the wider Government initiative to establish a circular economy and there will be further developments on this.

“The action to clean up Britain doesn’t end there – there is more to come as the Government moves to ensure the throwaway society is ended for good.”

If you have any questions on the DRS or other aspects of environmental law, please contact Michael Barlow, Helena Sewell or another member of the Burges Salmon environmental team.

Written by Helena Sewell