The deposit return scheme is our chance to tackle the drinks litter that makes up more than 70% of litter by volume in this country, at the same time as dramatically improving recycling - and all without leaving the taxpayer out of pocket.
Estimates suggest that more than eight billion drinks containers are littered, buried or burned across the UK each year and Keep Britain Tidy’s National Litter Survey has demonstrated that, by volume, drinks bottles and cans make up almost three quarters of the litter found on our streets. The vast majority of these will be covered by the deposit return scheme.
55% of all litter by volume
Drinks bottles and cans make up more than half of the litter in this country, by volume, and DRS should see the majority disappear
80% reduction in littering
Other countries report a reduction in the littering of bottles and cans of up to 80% after introducing a DRS
84.2% support DRS
In countries like Norway, Estonia and Ireland, where they have deposit return schemes, they are popular with the public
The ground-breaking change will have a major impact on the drinks packaging we use every day and the amount of that packaging that is littered. Along with Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) reforms, DRS has huge potential to address the litter crisis and create a more circular economy, meaning that valuable materials are retrieved and recycled rather than ending up in landfill or being burned in energy-from-waste plants.
It’s a disgrace that, for so long, we have polluting our environment with litter that is in fact a valuable and scarce resources that we should be capturing and recycling.
Allison Ogden-Newton OBE, CEO, Keep Britain TidyNo other policy can boost recycling of a product to above 90% and reduce its littering by 85%, all with industry enthusiastically supporting it and agreeing to fund it.
Evidence from more than 40 other countries and regions around the world shows that these schemes work and suggest that, if we get DRS right, we should see collection rates for drink containers increase to well above 90%, producing clean material for recycling and preventing them from littering our streets and polluting our waterways and, ultimately, our oceans.
A deposit return scheme involves paying a small deposit when purchasing a drink in a plastic or aluminium container.
This will be refunded through the customer's choice of cash, card or a voucher when the container is taken back to a return point.
It does not equate to an increase in the price of the drink itself as the deposit is fully refundable.
DRS is due to be introduced in October 2027 and this timeline must be adhered to by industry and retailers.
Glass will not be included in DRS at its launch in October 2027.
This means that the millions of glass bottles that are littered in the UK will continue to cause harm to people, pets and wildlife, and precious resources will continue to be wasted.
Keep Britain Tidy campaigned for the inclusion of glass in DRS but the decision was taken by government to exclude the material.
DRS will be funded by drinks producers who will provide return points (mostly situated in retailers) with a handling fee for each container they collect.
Over time, the scheme is expected to require less and less financial input from producers as they are able to sell and use the valuable and high-quality recyclate.
For example, in Norway, only 5.4% of the total cost of administering the scheme is paid in by producers, the rest generated by the scheme itself.
Related pages
"We need to work together and put our support behind DRS”
“Drinks containers make up more than half of the litter that’s out in the environment and in our communities. In DRS we have a policy that can make a real difference, reducing littering of cans and bottles by up to 85%."
What is Extended Producer Responsibility?
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is a mechanism by which producers are held responsible for their products and their packaging beyond the point of sale. One of the aims of EPR is to turn the tide on litter and waste.
Tackling plastic pollution
Since Sir David Attenborough highlighted the issue of marine plastic in Blue Planet II in 2017, more and more people have become concerned about the volume of plastic in our rivers and seas and its impact on marine life.