Exchange for Change Appointed the Deposit Return Scheme Management Organisation for Wales

On 20 August a written statement from Llŷr Gruffydd MS, Cabinet Minister for Rural Resilience and Sustainability of the Welsh Government announced that Exchange for Change have been appointed the Deposit Management Organisation (DMO) for the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) for drinks containers in Wales.

This aligns the DMO across the UK, with Exchange for Change already appointed to design and deliver the upcoming DRS across England, Northern Ireland, and Scotland, with a scheduled go-live date of October 1, 2027.

It states the Scheme will include PET, metal and glass drinks containers from “day one”, but importantly it states, “in line with the Deposit Scheme for Drinks Containers (Wales) Regulations 2026 a four-year transition period will apply to glass drinks containers, during which glass drinks containers will be exempt from labelling requirements and carry a zero pence deposit”.

This means financial deposits and mandatory labelling will apply to glass containers from October 2031, which follows on from a statement on 12 February 2026 by Huw Irranca-Davies, Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs from the Welsh Government, that the four years provides “a substantial period which gives industry time to adapt to the requirements which will then apply to glass drinks containers in parallel with the phasing in of reuse”.

The written statement on 20 August 2026 can be viewed here with the statement from 12 February 2026 here.