Welsh minister vows defiance on DRS glass scheme implementation after UK block on Scotland

15 Jun 2023 --- Wales has vowed to proceed with its plans for a deposit return scheme (DRS) by 2025, regardless of the UK government’s refusal to exclude glass from Scotland’s DRS plans, which were postponed for a third time last week due to industry fears that an exception in one nation would lead to unfair pricing and trade barriers throughout the country.

DRS schemes will establish a payback method for plastics, paper, aluminum, steel and glass packaging items to boost recycling rates. Scotland’s plans were far ahead of those in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and had included glass until ministers in London blocked glass materials from the plans.

Scotland has said it will have to wait until October 2025 “at the earliest” to implement the scheme. The UK government also says its decision over DRS in Scotland will also impact Wales’ plans.

However, Welsh climate change minister Julie James pledged this week to take the UK government “to task” on the issue.

Wales also plans to include glass in its scheme. James says the Welsh Government will continue to roll out its scheme in two years, concurrent with initial plans, regardless of interference by Westminster authorities.

The Welsh climate change minister says Wales does not need UK permission to proceed with its plans.“We don’t think we need the permission of the UK government to do that,” she says.

“It’s England that’s the outlier here, not Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland and they need to understand that.”

Post-Brexit internal market act
The controversy over the differing speeds at which each of the UK’s four nations is working toward DRS schemes stems from the post-Brexit internal market act, which seeks to ensure congruent legislation throughout the country.

Julie James says the UK Internal Market Bill stipulates that no nation can interrupt the commerce of others.

Unlike the EU single market, the UK Government’s approach does not recognize that there is a greater range of policy goals – for example, tackling environmental protection – that nations in a shared market area can pursue through market regulation.

Industry critics say England’s slow progress on DRS could continue to delay implementation in the other three nations, prolong the environmental damage caused by current waste management infrastructure and place financial burdens on investors.

Welsh recycling powers
Wales has some of the highest recycling rates per capita on earth, with the regional authority recording a 65.2% in 2022. This ranks the nation third in the world, behind Germany and Taiwan, according to Eunomia research.

Since devolution in municipal recycling, the Welsh government’s £1 billion (US$79 million) investment has helped see rates catapult from just 4.8% in 1998-1999 to more than 65% today.

In 2024-25, the statutory target will be raised to 70%, which has already been met by four Welsh local authorities: Conwy, Vale of Glamorgan, Bridgend and Pembrokeshire.

In total, 16 of Wales’ 22 local authorities have exceeded this year’s statutory minimum target of 64%, with ten local authorities reporting an increase in performance on the previous year.

By Louis Gore-Langton

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