Wales to launch DRS in 2027, in line with rest of UK

The announcement means that the start of the legislation in the devolved nation will be in keeping with the rest of the UK.

A prevailing difference is that glass will remain within the scope of the Welsh DRS, but will be excluded from the scheme in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

In a cabinet statement made today, Huw Irranca-Davies, Welsh deputy first minister and cabinet secretary for climate change and rural affairs, said: “We have heard clearly from industry that the scenario where a scheme is introduced in the other parts of the UK, with no scheme in place in Wales, carries the greatest risk of operational complexity and associated costs.

“I have therefore set out to industry that we are willing to accelerate our implementation timetable to align with the rest of the UK, which would provide for interoperability between common materials.”

Wales announced in November 2024 that it would be exiting the joint DRS process.

It later announced the first timeline for its scheme, which would have concluded with a consultation response in Spring 2026.

The response was slated to finalise the launch date for its DRS.

It was believed that this meant the scheme would launch after the October 2027 date and therefore out of sync with the other nations.

Why is Wales pursuing its own scheme?

Irranca-Davies repeated previous assertions that the ongoing situation is a result of the UK government’s decision to exclude glass from its DRS.

He said: “This is not a situation of the Welsh government’s making, as it stems directly from decisions taken by the previous UK government to depart from the agreed approach of a DRS that included glass.

“I recognise however the importance of taking action to avoid unintended consequences and take these issues seriously.”

Other announcements

The deputy first minister’s statement included that the Welsh government would pursue a phased approach.

The approach is intended to ensure that there is no requirement to have different labelling and “no fraud risk”.

The move is an attempt to limit the impact on current production and distribution arrangements.

He added that the government is conscious of “the wider issues” impacting the sector, particularly SMEs, and would work to ensure that there are “sensible arrangements” in place such as exclusions for low volume products.