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Glass in the Welsh Deposit Return Scheme (DRS)

by Owen Donovan

September 3, 2026

in Environment & Rural Affairs, Issues

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Glass in the Welsh Deposit Return Scheme (DRS)

Is this devolved to Wales?

Where is this happening?

What's happening?

Why is this happening?

Who has been affected?

What's happening?

Why is this happening?

Who has been affected?

Charts (if needed)

Example Title

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Souce text, source text, source text.

£ 00 million Total

Cheese
Explanation
Etc

Who has raised this at the Senedd?

Rhun ap Iorwerth MS

First Minister

Llŷr Gruffydd MS

Rural Resilience & Sustainability Minister

Niamh Salkeld MS

Backbencher

Laura Anne Jones MS

Shadow Rural Affairs Minister

James Evans MS

Shadow Health Minister

Nigel Williams MS

Backbencher

Louise Emery MS

Shadow Culture Minister

Steven Senior MS

Backbencher

Vikki Howells MS

Senedd Commissioner

Janet Finch-Saunders MS

Backbencher

Darren Millar MS

Conservative Group Leader

Sam Rowlands MS

Chair: Finance

Peter Fox MS

Backbencher

Andrew RT Davies MS

Senedd Commissioner

Jane Dodds MS

Backbencher

Rhun ap Iorwerth MS

First Minister

Llŷr Gruffydd MS

Rural Resilience & Sustainability Minister

Niamh Salkeld MS

Backbencher

Laura Anne Jones MS

Shadow Rural Affairs Minister

James Evans MS

Shadow Health Minister

Nigel Williams MS

Backbencher

Louise Emery MS

Shadow Culture Minister

Steven Senior MS

Backbencher

Vikki Howells MS

Senedd Commissioner

Janet Finch-Saunders MS

Backbencher

Darren Millar MS

Conservative Group Leader

Sam Rowlands MS

Chair: Finance

Andrew RT Davies MS

Senedd Commissioner

Peter Fox MS

Backbencher

Jane Dodds MS

Backbencher

What are the party positions on this?

Plaid Cymru backbenchers have welcomed the four-year phasing-in period for glass.

I welcome the approach that you've taken to the transition. We're asking businesses, local authorities, and communities to make a real big change here, so it's right that we really give them the time and the support that they need to get this right. And with Exchange for Change now appointed across the four nations, there's a real opportunity here, as you've said, to make the system work much more seamlessly across the whole of the UK.

While Reform doesn’t oppose a DRS scheme, they oppose any scheme that operates differently from the rest of the UK.

A deposit-return scheme only makes sense when it improves upon what already exists, and the Government proposal does not improve upon that. That brings us to the fundamental question before us today: what problem are Ministers actually trying to solve here? Indeed, Wales already, as we've heard, recycles around 92 per cent of household glass through existing collection systems. That's an extraordinary achievement, and we're not underperforming in Wales. We are not the laggards of Europe. We are amongst the best performers anywhere in the world, as other speakers here have said.

If litter was the issue, there are simpler and cheaper ways to tackle it. For me, I would scrap this scheme and we should be improving and modernising our world-leading kerbside recycling system. Part of the extended producer responsibility tax could be ring-fenced by UK Government with Barnett consequentials to invest in the latest technology, so these high-value materials can still be picked up kerbside, and we can start building processing plants here in Wales.

England, Scotland and Northern Ireland will operate one broadly aligned system, whilst Wales insists on going its own way. This is classic Plaid-Labour politics, making Wales different simply for the sake of being different. People will be buying drinks in Hereford, Chester, Bristol and bringing them back to Wales, whilst businesses will be expected to understand and administer different rules depending on which side of the border they happen to stand on.

Minister, this is a hospital pass that was put out by Boris Johnson's Conservative Government, passed to Labour, who embraced it in Westminster, then it came to Labour in Cardiff and now it's ended up on your desk. I think, deep down, you've already acknowledged that glass is the only real solid argument for it, the rest of it is debatable. We don't actually need it in Wales in terms of plastic and metal recycling. It's complicated, it's going to cause problems for local authorities and it's going to be deeply, deeply unpopular.

Labour introduced the policy and regulations in the first place and are sticking by their original decision. They are particularly keen to cut glass litter.

I've heard the calls, as others have also, from the drinks industry, calling for glass to be excluded from the scheme, but I don't agree that we should follow that path. And the reason for that is because of the increase in prevalence of glass litter. And the figures here are really stark. The occurrence of glass bottles in our litter in Wales has more than doubled over the last four years. By including glass, the scheme will offer a greater environmental benefit, but also....economic opportunities for green growtht.

The four-year phased approach for glass is critical in ensuring the success of the wider deposit-return scheme. It's important that businesses and consumers are given that feed in, and we should remember too it's estimated that a phased approach will be more cost-effective.

The Conservatives oppose any DRS scheme that’s different from the rest of the UK, believing that Wales’ good record at recycling household glass is a good reason for glass to not be included in the DRS.

....many convenience stores simply do not have the space to accommodate glass returns, and the specialist reverse vending machines required are significantly more expensive....The inclusion of glass is not simply an environmental question, it's a practical one. We should ask whether it's the right way to achieve our environmental ambitions, without placing unnecessary burdens on retailers, producers, and importantly, again, consumers.

The British Soft Drinks Association has warned that this decision could increase the cost of some bottles by up to 50p, which on something like a small bottle of water would be a huge proportional increase. Leading Welsh manufacturer Radnor Hills described the Welsh Government's plans as a complete and utter mess. Industry representatives have warned that manufacturers may pass additional costs directly on to consumers or even withdraw products from sale in Wales altogether.

....thanks to the members of the public right across Wales, our country now recycles more household waste than anywhere else in the United Kingdom, and our glass recycling rate is amongst the highest in Europe. Yet, in spite of this, your Plaid Cymru Government wants to follow the previous Labour Government's plans to diverge from the rest of the UK and insist on including glass in its deposit-return scheme. We know it's going to push costs on to businesses, manufacturers and consumers.

The transition period for glass, were it a 0 per cent deposit, is applied and there are no additional labour requirements, which will end in 2031. At this point, a number of issues will come to the fore, including: how the return of glass containers is managed within hospitality; the risk of fraud, of glass containers sold in other parts of the UK being redeemed here in Wales; the additional cost incurred by producers for other rolled-out glass return points; and how the aforementioned reuse targets will work in practice.

While they haven’t said anything on this yet, Paul Rock MS voted against removing glass from the DRS in Wales.

Test Test Test

Jane Dodds is opposed to Wales taking a different approach from England.

...my concern, like has been heard, is the decision to include glass when the rest of the UK is not....There were a few reasons, and one is about listening to businesses. They are the heart and soul, big or small, of our economic system here in Wales. And the other, which is just to respond to the issue of 'Why shouldn't we do it here in Wales when we can see it in other countries?', is that, actually, we have a huge border with another country, a country that I want to continue working with. I don't want us to be independent.

Who is responsible?

Llŷr Gruffydd MS

Rural Resilience & Sustainability Minister

What have ministers said?

Now, the appointment of Exchange for Change followed a robust process to identify an organisation capable of delivering the scheme here in Wales. As the deposit management organisation, Exchange for Change will now work with producers, retailers, local authorities and other stakeholders to establish the return network, collection and processing infrastructure, producer registration arrangements and operational arrangements and systems needed before launch. As a producer-led scheme, of course, they will now play a crucial role in delivering a DRS that works for Wales.

....deposit-return schemes are an internationally proven way to increase recycling, to collect high-quality materials, to support reuse, and that is important, and, of course, to reduce the environmental impact of single-use drinks containers. And for Wales, this offers us an opportunity to build on our recycling success by helping to commence the transition to reuse, drawing from the proven success, as I said, of some of the world's best schemes that are out there.

Let me be clear: figures cited of a DRS in Wales costing £200 million or adding 50p to the price of drinks in glass bottles are not accurate. They relate to industry's upper estimate of the potential cost of fraud in the absence of a scheme in Wales. They don't reflect the scenario that we are working to, and we are clear on the need to bring in a scheme in Wales in parallel with those elsewhere across the UK.

What's being done about this?

What do the Welsh Government want to do?

Does this need a new law or regulations?

How long will this take?

What do the Welsh Government want to do?

Does this need a new law or regulations?

How long will this take?

What have the Senedd's Committees said?

Nothing has been discussed yet.

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Relevant Votes

Date	Motion Number	Subject	Tabled As	Binding Vote?	Votes For	Abstentions	Votes Against	Absent/No Vote	Outcome
15/07/26	NDM9287	As amended	Motion as amended	No	50	0	38	6	AGREED
15/07/26	NDM9287	Amendment – Keep glass in Welsh deposit return scheme	Plaid Cymru	No	50	0	38	6	AGREED
15/07/26	NDM9287	Remove glass from Welsh deposit return scheme	Conservatives	No	38	0	50	6	REJECTED

Further Reading

Welsh Government (25th July 2025). “Deposit Return Scheme for Wales“

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Tags: CON-01 CON-03 CON-05 CON-06 CON-07 ENV 06 LB-08 LD-01 National PC-01 PC-10-M PC-22 RF-03 RF-06 RF-11 RF-26 RF-31

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Senedd Home by Owen Donovan is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

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