Our reaction to Deposit Return Scheme announcement

The nation’s best loved environmental charity – Keep Britain Tidy – has today urged the government to think again about excluding glass from the newly announced Deposit Return Scheme for England.

The plans for an “all-in” DRS, announced today, have been largely welcomed by environmental campaigners, including Keep Britain Tidy’s Chief Executive, Allison Ogden-Newton OBE, who said: “After a long wait, we welcome the government unveiling their plans for a Deposit Return Scheme.

"Getting plastic bottles and aluminium cans off the ground is a real step forward, but I believe that excluding glass at this time is a tragically missed opportunity”.

The charity, which spent the summer highlighting the dangers of broken and littered glass through its #PainInTheGlass campaign, believes the plans should extend to glass, saying: “We are incredibly disappointed that glass, one of the most dangerous forms of litter for people, pets and wildlife, has been excluded. But it’s not too late and we continue to urge the Government to think again, to line up alongside Scotland and to introduce a truly comprehensive scheme for the sake of the environment.”

In June 2021, Keep Britain Tidy wrote to the then Prime Minister, alongside a coalition of leading environmental organisations including CPRE, Surfers Against Sewage, Marine Conservation Society and Greenpeace, calling on him to introduce a UK-wide “all-in” Deposit Return Scheme for drinks containers. You can read the full letter by clicking the side bar.

You can also read details of Defra's full announcement here.