The department for environment, food and rural affairs (Defra) has rejected supermarkets calls for a pilot deposit return scheme (DRS).
In July, the National Audit Office (NAO) urged Defra to show the cost-effectiveness of the DRS by rolling out smaller pilot schemes ahead of the official launch, which is currently due to take place in October 2025, The Grocer reported.
This came as supermarket bosses expressed concerns that the scheme will cost retailers approximately £1.8bn – a figure ten times the amount than officials previously reported.
While Defra was questioned by the House of Commons’ public accounts committee yesterday over the plans for the DRS, the government departments permanent secretary, Tamara Finkelstein, said pilots would not be taking place.
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She argued that in England, a pilot “doesn’t really work unless you do it end to end,” adding “the best information we actually have is from the schemes that have been running in other countries. That’s going to be absolutely crucial”.
There are currently around 50 countries with fully implemented deposit return schemes, including Denmark, Germany, Norway and Sweden.
Finkelstein also questioned whether the UK should raise the 20p deposit figure for drinks containers that is to be rolled out as part of Scotland’s DRS.
“We’re not at the point where the Scottish scheme had got to whereby it set a 20p per bottle deposit, but we need to take that back in as we look for an interoperable scheme.”
This comes as it was revealed last month that the DRS could be delayed by at least another year to October 2026.
Meetings between representatives of all the UK governments and industry bodies aimed at salvaging the scheme saw sources claiming a “fundamental rethink” would be needed.
