It was announced by deputy first minister and cabinet secretary for climate change and rural affairs, Huw Irranca-Davies MS, in November last year that Wales would no longer be part of the joint UK-wide DRS.
Head of DRS in Wales, Laura Harrison, confirmed that the nation is currently in the engagement stage of its process and will provide stakeholders with the opportunity to provide feedback on the implementation of the scheme until April 2025.
Following this, the government will put together a consultation which is due to launch over summer and run for 12 weeks into autumn – likely closing in October 2025.
Wales will then evaluate the responses before publishing the outcome in Spring 2026. This will be accompanied by the next phase of the timeline for its DRS.
There is currently no date for when the Welsh DRS will go live.
The DRS legislation for England and Northern Ireland came into force on 27 January 2025. The scheme will officially launch in England in October 2027.
A Welsh government spokesperson told Letsrecycle.com: “We are continuing to engage with stakeholders before a formal public consultation is launched in the summer on the development of the DRS for Wales.
“As Wales is currently ranked second globally for recycling, we are in a unique position in working to implement a scheme which builds upon our high recycling rates.
“We are therefore continuing our work to develop a scheme that will promote the reuse of all drinks containers, including glass. Our goal is to develop a DRS that will deliver for Wales by effectively supporting the move towards a circular economy.
“We encourage everyone to take the opportunity to contribute to the development of the DRS scheme for Wales.”
David Gudgeon, head of external affairs at Reconomy Connect, reacted to the news: “This is a welcome clarification from the Welsh government on next steps following their decision not to join a UK-wide DRS scheme and will hopefully bring it closer to fruition. Once implemented, this scheme should significantly reduce littering, plastic pollution and carbon emissions while also creating jobs and generating investment.
“In Ireland, where the DRS scheme has been in effect since February 2024, over 630 million containers were returned in the first eight months alone. As societies continue to consume resources faster than they can be replenished, it is more important than ever to have systems like this up and running – ensuring valuable, finite materials remain in circulation and advancing the circular economy.”
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