While the extended producer responsibility for packaging (pEPR) legislation is due to come into effect this year, the DRS is set to start two years from now in October 2027.
The Grocer added that the BRC has blamed “the rising threat of food price inflation” and “the high infrastructure costs it would impose on supermarkets” as reasons to delay the current DRS timeline.
The letter to Defra added that the Welsh government’s decision to pull out of the joint UK-wide DRS risks rendering the scheme “ineffective”.
MPs will debate the legislation next Tuesday (21 January 2025) in parliament.
Uk and Ireland director of circularity group Reloop, Sarah Horner, has brushed off the claims made by the BRC.
She said: “We are confident that the government will be moving ahead with the DRS on schedule for October 2027, despite the usual complaints by some elements of the retail sector. With around 70% of the public backing the scheme, and with cross-party support, we’re glad that it remains a national priority to clean up our communities from the scourge of litter and to deliver a circular economy.
“Since being announced in March 2018 we have seen year after year of Government delay to the Deposit Return Scheme, every additional day of delay means additional millions of bottles and cans polluting our parks, streets and rivers.
“With countries across the world moving ahead with their Deposit Return Schemes, including most recently in Ireland where nearly one billion bottles have been returned since last February, we urge everyone to now get behind the scheme and work on making it a success.”
The DRS will apply to drinks containers made of plastic, aluminium and steel.
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