Hospitality groups have expressed concern that the Welsh government wants to go it alone with its own deposit return scheme (DRS).
“Wales is already ranked second in the world for recycling,” said deputy first minister Huw Irranca-Davies. “It places us in a unique position of implementing a scheme into an already high recycling nation.
“That means that to develop a DRS that will deliver benefit to Wales necessitates an approach which looks beyond recycling, one that will support Wales to build on our progress to date and take the next step by supporting the transition to reuse.”
Emma McClarkin, chief executive of the British Beer & Pub Association, said: “Our preference has always been for a four-nation approach on DRS, with full alignment and interoperability, to avoid the added complexity and costs that different approaches create.
“However, we respect that Wales is already leading the way on recycling rates and their desire to go further to achieve a truly circular economy for packaging.
“We will continue to work closely with Welsh government on their proposed scheme and how it will impact our sector and deliver for brewers and pubs.”
But UKHospitality Cymru said the move to pursue a separate scheme will increase cost and complexity for businesses.
Executive director, David Chapman, said: “A Welsh scheme, which is not aligned with England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, only serves to increase cost and complexity for businesses operating across the UK, makes the objective of improving recycling more difficult, and could lead to a reduction in products available in Wales.
“I would urge the Welsh government to carefully consider all cross-border issues in the development of its scheme to ensure that Welsh businesses can have the easiest transition into any new scheme proposals.”
