The Welsh Government has opened applications for organisations to operate Wales' deposit return scheme, with the appointment process running from today (28 November) to 23 January 2026.

Deputy First Minister Huw Irranca-Davies announced the move in a cabinet statement yesterday, confirming that regulations establishing the scheme will be laid before the Senedd in February 2026. Subject to parliamentary approval, the successful applicant could be appointed as the Deposit Management Organisation (DMO) from March 2026.

The timeline mirrors the approach taken by the UK Government for appointing the DMO for England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Applications for that role opened on 2 December 2024 and closed on 3 February 2025, with UK Deposit Management Organisation Limited appointed in May 2025.

UK DMO is a business-led, not-for-profit organisation with board members from major drinks producers and retailers including Coca-Cola, Heineken UK, Tesco and Co-op.

Wales withdrew from the joint UK approach in November 2024 over disagreements regarding glass inclusion and constraints imposed by the UK Internal Market Act 2020. However, the Welsh Government subsequently decided in July 2025 to align its implementation timeline with the rest of the UK, targeting an October 2027 launch.

Glass inclusion in DRS

The Welsh approach differs from other UK nations by including glass containers alongside plastic bottles and aluminium and steel cans. Central to Wales' scheme is a focus on reuse rather than single-use recycling.

A 12-week public consultation on the reuse provisions closed on 10 November 2025. The consultation, launched in August, examined proposals for collection targets requiring minimum percentages of drinks containers to be collected for reuse rather than single-use recycling, with options ranging from 5 per cent to 50 per cent for milestone years in 2031, 2035 and 2040.

"Reusing materials through a DRS reduces the need to extract raw materials, supports containers to be used multiple times over and can therefore support producers to be more resource efficient, whilst also reducing litter and carbon emissions and saving energy," Irranca-Davies stated.

The Welsh Government aims to draw upon international practice, citing Germany's 50 per cent reusable containers in its deposit return scheme and Latvia's 67 per cent reusable glass bottle rate.

Wales reported a 66.6 per cent household recycling rate for 2023/24, maintaining its position as the world's second-highest recycling nation.

The Welsh Government has formally proposed an exclusion for its deposit return scheme from the United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020, noting that the scheme's scope falls within devolved competence.

Irranca-Davies stated that should the exclusion not be agreed, "this would lead to the scenario where there would be no DRS in Wales, and as such an exclusion would be required for the schemes in other nations."

The completion of the World Trade Organization notification process on 16 November marked another milestone in bringing forward the scheme.

The Welsh Government has undertaken extensive engagement with businesses, representative organisations, individual sectors, recycling and reuse organisations, the Welsh Local Government Association and environmental organisations since announcing its separate approach in November 2024.

This engagement highlighted industry's preference for aligning implementation dates across UK nations and the need for a phased approach to glass and reuse to address the differing scopes between deposit return schemes.