Twenty pence has been confirmed as the deposit to be applied on soft drink purchases and then refunded on return of the container as part of the Deposit Return Scheme in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
That has been announced by Exchange for Change which will run the scheme in these nations from October 2027, giving consumers a strong incentive to return eligible containers. Single use drinks containers made of plastic and metal between 150ml and 3l in size will be included.
In Wales, the current administration intends its scheme to include plastic, metal and glass, but glass will not be included until 2031. Wales has to date failed to appoint an administrator and as such the deposit amount and other details about the scheme are yet to be confirmed.
The Association of Convenience Stores welcomes the 20p announcement. Its chief executive Ed Woodall says that it shows that “progress is being made at pace on the details of the scheme”.
He adds: “There are however still crucial parts of the scheme that we do not have clarity on yet, the most important of which is the rate of the retail handling fee, which will play the biggest role in retailers making a decision about how to be involved with the scheme.
“We remain committed to working with Exchange for Change to explain the details of the scheme to retailers, and to ensure that the scheme can be implemented in a targeted, sustainable way that causes minimal operational and cost burdens for the convenience sector.”
