Yesterday (29 August), the ACS published its evidence submission to the Public Accounts Committee’s inquiry into the government’s waste reforms for England.
The Committee opened its inquiry in July and invited evidence from industry, with the deadline closing on 28 August. It will hold its first meeting on 11 September when it will quiz Defra ministers on whether the government has effective plans to achieve its resources and waste ambitions and if it is on track to successfully implement the collection and packaging reforms.
In its submission to the inquiry, the ACS warned: “The lessons from Scotland are clear that DRS needs significant planning and preparation time to be delivered effectively. The current timeline does not permit this, and the uncertainties about the format and approach to DRS undermine businesses’ ability to invest in DRS implementation.”
The association, which represents retailers such as the Co Op, Londis, Spar and Morrisons, said it supports the rollout of a DRS but the following conditions need to be met:
- Interoperability plan to ensure the scheme works across the UK’s four nations
- Draft regulations need to be laid before parliament with significant lead time to the proposed go-live date
- A commitment from government to underwrite finances for setting up a DMO
- A timeline that properly reflects the time needed for industry to prepare
‘Half-baked’
CS chief executive James Lowman said: “The Government is taking the right steps toward ensuring a more sustainable future, but it’s absolutely essential that significant changes and new infrastructure like that which will be needed under a deposit return scheme are given enough time and scrutiny to get the details right.
“We cannot risk rushing out half-baked policies that could end up harming retailers, consumers, the industry and ultimately the environment.”
Pressure
Defra is now coming under mounting industry pressure to further delay the rollout of the DRS into 2026 and beyond.
The British Retail Consortium earlier this month published a report which claimed the the DRS will cost retailers £1.8 billion a year (see letsrecycle.com story), urging the government to review the scheme’s rollout.
When the Resources and Waste Strategy was first published, Defra had signalled its intent to introduce it in 2023, subject to consultation. This however has been pushed back multiple times.
With retails now applying more pressure over cost of living concerns, Defra is facing more demands to postpone the DRS, as was done with extended producer responsibility when producers pushed back hard.
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