The new president of the British Soft Drinks Association (BSDA), William Watkins is to challenge Wales’ decision to include glass in its deposit return scheme plans.
The upcoming deposit return scheme (DRS) has been delayed to October 2027 in the UK. At present, there is no fully operational scheme live anywhere across the UK, and no indication of retailer handling fees, machine requirements or waste collection frequency.
One thing that is confirmed throughout all parts of the UK except Wales, is that glass will not be included.
Describing the difference, the new president of the British Soft Drinks Association. William Watkins, described the Welsh Government as an outlier and said a change in approach is needed.
He explaioned: “A lack of alignment in this area would create different market conditions within Great Britain, something which carries the potential to confuse consumers and impede efforts to achieve the high collections rates of PET and aluminum beverage containers necessary to fuel the circular economy for beverage packaging.
“I am calling on the Welsh government to reconsider its approach to help unlock the way to an interoperable DRS that benefits the environment, consumers and industry alike.”
Watkins, also founder and owner of Wales-based bottled water firm Radnor Hills, was appointed as BSDA president at the trade body’s AGM on June 11 and took over from Paul Graham, GB managing director at Britvic, who, in his time as president, led the BSDA in its role as a founder-member of Circularity Scotland, a scheme administrator for Scotland’s now-aborted standalone deposit return scheme.
Watkins continued: “I aim to continue the fine work of Paul and past BSDA presidents by making further progress on a wide range of issues affecting and involving soft drinks, particularly those related to reducing litter and increasing recycling.”
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