LARAC is calling for an urgent review into the impact of the UK’s Deposit Return Schemes (DRS) on councils.
The DRS will divert plastic and aluminium drinks containers, and glass drinks containers in Wales, away from kerbside collection systems and towards dedicated return points.
Drink containers are among the most widely collected and valuable materials in household recycling.
LARAC is warning that the schemes could cost councils ‘millions’ through lost revenue, increased Material Recovery Facility (MRF) gate fees, Trading Standards enforcement, litter management and contract changes.
An impact assessment published by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) in 2024 suggested that the DRSs would generate a saving of 69p per household for local authorities.
However, LARAC believes the impact assessment relies on composition and behavioural data dating back to 2016.
LARAC Chair Gareth Rollings said: “The suggestion that councils will achieve savings through DRS does not reflect the financial and operational consequences they expect when the scheme goes live.”
“While some of the gaps in Defra’s 2024 Impact Assessment may reflect the limited evidence available at the time, its failure to account for factors likely to increase costs for local authorities and the wider waste sector is extremely concerning.”
In its letter to the Minister for Waste Crime and the Circular Economy, Emma Hardy, LARAC has called for a new DRS impact assessment using current data to establish the financial and resource implications for local authorities.
As part of the four actions it is asking from the government, LARAC also requested a cumulative assessment of DRS, packaging Extended Producer Responsibility (pEPR) and Simpler Recycling in England to understand how these reforms interact and affect each other’s implementation and effectiveness.
The other key actions include offsetting the lost income and additional costs faced by councils through the New Burdens Doctrine in England and equivalent funding arrangements in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, or through unredeemed deposits held by the Deposit Management Organisation (DMO).
Finally, LARAC has called for the government to establish a formal monitoring and review framework involving local authority representation during the scheme’s initial years of operation.
Rollings continued: “Local authorities must also have a formal role in monitoring and reviewing DRS once it is operating, including how it interacts with packaging Extended Producer Responsibility, Simpler Recycling and the wider system of waste and recycling reforms.”
