LONDON: Responding to the joint policy statement on a UK-wide DRS and the UK Government policy statement on inclusion of glass, DDRS Alliance claims the delayed launch date of October 2027 and the raft of compromises and deferred positions underlines the need to look at an updated and alternative solution for the UK DRS.

DDRS Alliance has been very vocal in urging the UK governments to progress a DRS for the UK as fast as practicable to limit the increasing litter and pollution driven by the 31 billion drink containers produced in the UK each year. The environment demands fast action. A launch date of October 2027 seems ambitious but achievable, and DDRS Alliance is keen to see the UK governments deliver on that date, irrespective of any political changes that may occur between now and that date.

But the joint policy statement highlighted the difficulty in force-fitting a DRS solution first developed in 1984 in Sweden, to the modern, omnichannel and on-the-go market of the UK in the 2020’s and beyond, and which operates a mature and imbedded kerbside recycling culture.

Duncan Midwood, Co-founder and Director of DDRS Alliance, said “A pure return-to-retail model simply won’t deliver the collection and recycling rates the UK needs to achieve. The solution proposed here is to exempt many retailers from their duty to take back drink containers – including hospitality, schools and leisure centres. Without an effective return network, any UK solution is doomed to failure.”

Midwood continued: “Removing the requirement for online retailers to take back containers is the only option the government has in order to avoid a cul-de-sac later on (as was seen in Scotland) – when limited to an RVM-based DRS solution. But kicking this unrecyclable can down the road does not solve the problem – it simply passes it to the next political regime or the DMO to solve. Enabling kerbside returns through a Digital DRS is the only way known to eliminate this thorny issue and free up the DMO to get on with the implementation.”

The UK Government outlined in their statement on glass that the United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020 (UKIMA) may be used as a heavy-handed weapon to force the Welsh Government into a corner on glass. DDRS Alliance believes that glass is a big issue in a DRS due to the current outdated return-to-retail model in using reverse vending machines (RVMs) and that using an alternative model, such as Digital DRS, can easily enable glass to be included in a DRS utlising kerbside collections.

Midwood added: “Force-fitting a UK DRS into a conventional RVM-based DRS has been at the heart of the challenges seen in Scotland and the challenges to come in aligning the four UK nations and implementing a fit-for-purpose DRS that will stand the test of time. And it will only get harder as packaging evolves. Including glass can easily be resolved using Digital DRS. Online take-back disappears as an issue with a Digital DRS solution as does the challenge of providing accessibility to the whole population.”

DDRS Alliance sees the statements released today as necessary to draw a line in the sand and set expectations. But it shows the lack of ambition and understanding of how technology can transform the outcomes for the UK’s citizens and drive our market to circularity.

Duncan Midwood, Co-founder of DDRS Alliance, summarised: “The four UK governments have set a timeline to implement a UK-wide DRS. Let industry, government and technology combine to make the solution fit for purpose, effective, low-cost, flexible and future-proofed. DDRS Alliance continues to drive the development and validation of Digital DRS and will present a superior proposition to all stakeholders.”