Today’s appointment of the deposit return scheme administrator has been hailed as a “key landmark” in the hopes of governments across the UK – with the notable exception of the Welsh – getting the UK supermarket and drinks industry to work together in creating a circular economy.

In reality, some would suggest it’s a miracle that the scheme has made it to this stage and that medals should be awarded to those that have stuck with it and got DRS to this milestone.

Pointing out that it will not be a smooth road ahead is about as obvious as suggesting that Donald Trump’s presidency might just continue to feature the odd hint of controversy.

Surely, in the long history of the food and drink industry, few subjects have managed to generate as many rows and bust-ups as DRS. It’s had more twists and turns than the average F1 season and anyone close to the subject is all too aware that there will be plenty more to come.

Wishful thinking

Publicly at least, the new body – or to give it its full title The UK Deposit Management Organisation Ltd (UK DMO) – is committing to launch the scheme in October 2027. But privately it’s not hard to find people in the drinks and supermarket industry who think that is spectacularly wishful thinking.

But moving beyond the headline task of how to get a £1.13bn system covering 26 billion single-use plastic bottles and cans each year off the ground from scratch within two-and-a-half years, the biggest challenge facing the new governing body will be to somehow bring a sense of co-ordination and professionalism to the introduction of the DRS, replacing what has all too often been hijacked by politics and dominated by sector infighting.

For example, can supermarket bosses (who are among those with the most doubts about the timeline) be persuaded that spending hundreds of millions of pounds on a network of reverse vending machines is a safe investment that will be worth the pain in the long run?

Can the new DRS system avoid the endless bust-ups with smaller retailers that plagued the launch plans in Scotland and saw its administrator CSL all too often end up carrying the can, rather than the hapless politicians in Holyrood?

Perhaps most pressing of all, can the UK DMO somehow persuade the Welsh government to come back on board with plans for a UK rollout after its dramatic decision to walk away from the scheme in November due to its determination to keep glass within scope?

A troubled DRS history

For throughout the troubled and complicated history of DRS, the main call from businesses has remained simple.

They want a scheme that is interoperable and joined-up across all the markets in which they happen to operate, one that beyond the already significant cost posed by DRS, doesn’t add more of it from needless bureaucracy, fraud, and logistical mayhem.

The good news is that the people running UK DMO, including executives from the likes of Coca-Cola, Tesco, Heineken, Co-op and others, know this and have known it for years.

The bad news is that the clock is ticking and the backdrop to the DRS rollout is now the most unpredictable of political economic maelstroms.

Whether Defra and today’s set of politicians manage to help calm that or add to the complications, we are yet to find out. But it has to be good news for all those who see DRS as the solution that, at last, the professionals are in charge.

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