Wales ploughs ahead with glass in DRS despite UK block

Wales will press on with plans for a Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) which includes glass, despite Westminster’s block of a similar plan in Scotland.

The UK government published a policy statement on the Scottish DRS on Saturday 27 May after considering Holyrood’s request for an exclusion from the UK Internal Market Act 2020, which would allow Scotland to undertake an entirely separate DRS.

Scotland was granted a temporary exclusion, as its scheme was due to precede the roll-out in the rest of the UK, but was told it would have to exclude glass from 2025 to be in line with UK-wide plans.

First Minister Humza Yousaf hit back at the block from Westminster, suggesting a Scottish scheme may fail to go ahead unless the UK Government revoked its decision on the glass exemption.

Since then Scotland has taken the decision to delay its DRS launch until October 2025, falling in step with the rest of the United Kingdom.

The UK government said its decision to exclude glass would affect also Wales’ plans. However, Climate Change Minister Julie James said this week that she would take the UK government “to task” on the issue.

Wales plans to include glass in its planned scheme, which would see people refunded money if they returned empty drinks containers made of plastic, glass, steel or aluminium.

James said the Welsh Government would continue to roll out its scheme in two years, despite the intended block from Westminster. “We don’t think we need the permission of the UK government to do that,” she said.

She argued that her reading of the UK Internal Markets Bill was that no single nation could interrupt the commerce of the others.

“It’s England that’s the outlier here, not Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland and they need to understand that,” she said.