Exchange for Change has announced a ‘targeted grant scheme’ to support small businesses in funding reverse vending machine installation.
The Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) administrator, Exchange for Change, has announced it has set aside £60m to provide grants over the first three years the scheme is operational.
The proposed grant level is £6,000 per site, paid over three years, structured as three annual payments of £2,000, with the first payment made approximately three months after implementation.
The grant is to support retailers with the costs required to install reverse vending machines (RVM) and is in addition to the Return Handling Fee (RHF), which covers the costs incurred by retailers when managing returned containers.
Exchange for Change says the grants will be targeted at small, independent retailers, and it will develop eligibility criteria, alongside operational performance requirements.
The UK’s DRS is set to launch in October 2027, with the schemes in England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland including PET plastic, steel, and aluminium drinks containers.
Wales withdrew from a UK-wide scheme in 2024 due to time constraints that prevented the UK Government from considering a request for an exclusion from the Internal Market Act.
Wales’s DRS will include glass as an in-scope material when it launches alongside the other UK nations’ schemes in October 2027. However, initially, no deposit will be charged on glass containers as a transitional measure to manage interoperability with the other UK schemes.
Exchange for Change is the not-for-profit body established to design and deliver the scheme across England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
As part of the DRS, grocery retailers, such as supermarkets, convenience stores and newsagents, are required to host return points open to all consumers.
However, other points of sale like hospitality venues, leisure locations, online retailers and vending machine operators are not obligated to operate return points.
Commenting on the update, Travis Way, managing director at RVM company EcoVend, called the new framework a ‘welcome and pragmatic step’.
“It’s also encouraging to see targeted financial support being introduced,” Way said. “Smaller businesses will need this additional backing to manage upfront costs and operational considerations, especially in the early stages of the scheme.”
“There is a real opportunity for those smaller retailers that do participate. Hosting a return point can help drive increased footfall, create new customer touchpoints, and deliver procurement efficiencies.”
