Representatives of the UK’s independent breweries have called for the implementation of a major recycling scheme to be delayed for at least a year.
An illustration used to promote the deposit return scheme in Scotland
Deposit return schemes (DRS) are scheduled to be introduced in October 2027. However, producers — especially small producers — need 18- to 24 months from when meaningful decisions are made to successfully implement the scheme.
In a letter to ministers, the Society of Independent Brewers and Associates (SIBA), which represents around 700 small independent breweries, warned of a “Scottish style meltdown of DRS” because of Wales’s failure to appoint an administrator or provide guidance on how their separate glass scheme would operate.
The new DRS is supposed to be organised by a deposit management organisation (DMO), but the Welsh government has failed to make a decision after previously rejecting the one application it received.
They also plan to include glass, while the rest of the UK is focusing on cans and plastic bottles. However, no clarity has been provided on how the glass scheme will work and interact with the separate extended producer responsibility (EPR) scheme. This could result in small breweries being doubled taxed in Wales.
The Scottish DRS collapsed in 2023 when it tried to implement a scheme with a different scope and timetable than the rest of the UK.
“It feels like déjà vu on the deposit return schemes, where a lack of clarity and different rules across the UK doomed the scheme in Scotland before it could even launch,” said Andy Slee, chief executive of SIBA. “We want to see a DRS that works for all producers and consumers, and the simplest way to do that would be to have the same scope and the same rules across the UK.
Malcolm Herbert, from Core of the Poodle Brewery, said: “We’ve been trying to get clarity on how the DRS is going to actually operate, but the Welsh government has been dragging its feet on the appointment of an administrator and hasn’t clarified how glass in the scheme would possibly work.
“The only way forward is to pause it for at least a year to give all four nations the extra time [needed] to sort out the chaotic rules. If it doesn’t, then 90 Welsh breweries will be negatively impacted, won’t be able to compete across the UK, and beer consumers will lose out.”
