Campaign Activations, Challenging Government, Impact, Plastic Pollution Posted — 19 October 2023
Why we’re upping the ante on DRS
What’s DRS? It stands for Deposit Return Scheme and it’s where we get money back from retailers for returning plastic bottles and other drinks’ containers we’ve bought. Those of us who are old enough will remember taking the lids of glass pop bottles back to the shop for 5p or 10p. Sometimes more if we were lucky! Basically, it’s the return of that idea, but widened out to include plastic bottles and cans.
In 2018 there was a commitment from the government to introduce a Deposit Return Scheme for England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Scotland followed with a DRS commitment shortly after in 2020 and it was all looking pretty positive.
Yet here in 2023, not one single DRS has been put in place in the UK. And there’s a real danger the schemes could exclude key polluting items in our blue and green spaces, in the form of cans and glass.
An estimated 8 BILLION plastic bottles, cans and glass containers enter the ocean every year. If you do the basic maths, that’s 40 BILLION items that have polluted the ocean since the commitments to DRS, that could have been prevented through an all-in system.
Now there are rumours the schemes could be pushed back again. How many more delays do we need to sit through? It’s past time for action. As a result, we’re calling on our elected members to step up the pace again on DRS. Click HERE to view our campaign video.
In Plastic Free Communities across the UK, our volunteers are working hard to turn off the tap of single use plastic in local councils, businesses, schools and through engaging with as many households and organisations as they can.
Through those local campaigns they can harness local voices to call for national system change. And that’s why they’re calling on their local parliamentary reps to support DRS now. Not in 2026. Not in 2027. But in 2025, as planned. Saving billions more items from harming the ocean.
Join them and let’s free where we live from single use – one plastic bottle at a time
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