The UK government is believed to be considering action under the Internal Market Act which could derail Wales’ bid for a deposit return scheme including glass.
Sources say Defra is alarmed at the prospect of the October 2027 rollout of DRS facing chaos if Wales presses ahead with its plan to include glass from day one, whilst the other nations exclude glass.
A Welsh government consultation on its proposals, which launched in August, is due to end on 10 November and The Grocer understands it has been urged to change its plans by a wide range of industry bodies, representing retailers and suppliers.
The consultation set out plans for a difference in scope between the DRS in Wales and the other schemes due to launch within the UK, with a phased approach to include transition arrangements, such as a zero deposit for single-use glass containers to avoid the need for changes to labelling, production, or distribution systems.
However, the BRC has slammed the plans as “antiquated” and warned that without deposits there will be no incentive for consumers to return bottles to reverse vending machines in store, whilst retailers would still face huge investment in infrastructure.
Sources told The Grocer negotiations were continuing to try to get Wales to back down, but time was running out for it to avoid the sort of intervention by Westminster which torpedoed Scotland’s plans to launch the UK’s first DRS.
“There have been strong rumours about some kind of statement on the Internal Market Act and that Wales would essentially go the way of Scotland in relation to glass,” said one source.
“There has even been a rumour that the Welsh government would make a statement saying that they now accept that the Internal Market Act applies to Wales and they would officially request an exemption for glass.”
However, a further complicating factor is Labour’s thumping loss in the Caerphilly byelection last week.
Sources have suggested Westminster will be reluctant to be seen to be going against the Welsh Labour administration at a time when it is in such crisis.
“Given how fragile Labour is in Wales, it’s easy to see that Labour will want to avoid arguments blowing up between Cardiff and Westminster.”
Another industry source said: “There is a view that Defra doesn’t want to allow Wales to go ahead with a scheme that is different to the rest of the UK.
“Meanwhile, industry is in a really difficult position because if Wales doesn’t secure an exemption under the Internal Markets Act, there is a nervousness that their scheme could be at risk entirely, if it decided it will walk away.
“On the one hand it would be a lot simpler if glass wasn’t in, but if Wales pulls the rug that leaves the same sort of nightmare scenario we saw in Scotland three years ago.”
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