Wales Launches Consultation on DRS With Focus on ‘Roadmap to Reuse’

The Welsh Government has published a new consultation on its Deposit Return Scheme (DRS), seeking views on how to integrate reuse alongside recycling.

The consultation period runs from 18 August to 10 November 2025, setting out proposals to advance a circular economy while safeguarding consistency with other UK nations.

Building on previous consultations which presented widespread support, with 83% were in favour of including glass in the scheme, and 73% supporting glass bottle refilling over recycling, the new draft legislation introduces a “reuse roadmap.” This will guide how reusable drink containers gradually become the norm, with milestone targets set for 2031, 2035, and 2040.

The roadmap will span all key packaging types – glass, PET, and aluminium – across a range of drink categories and sales environments, from retail and hospitality to catering.

Importantly, the consultation proposes binding reuse obligations for both the Deposit Management Organisation (DMO) and producers. Initially, the DMO will be required to ensure certain percentages of containers are collected for reuse, while producers would be expected to increase the proportion of reusable formats they place on the Welsh market over time.

To support the practical rollout of reuse, the consultation suggests standardising bottle sizes and shapes to simplify collection, cleaning, and refilling processes. It also encourages innovation in return logistics (such as reusable return points at household recycling centres, kerbside routes, or community hubs) and explores digital tracking technologies like two-dimensional barcodes, amongst many other aspects.

Wales is of course pushing ahead with including glass in its scheme, even though other UK nations are opting out. To ease the transition, the consultation proposes aligning glass exemptions with the packaging Extended Producer Responsibility (pEPR) thresholds. Under this proposal, producers who already qualify for low-volume exemptions under pEPR would similarly be exempt from the DRS, helping small producers without creating new exemptions.

This consultation marks a significant step: Wales is not just establishing a DRS, but embedding reuse at its core, in line with international best practice and its own circular economy ambitions.

The consultation documents can be accessed here.