APRS have signed an Open Letter to the Prime Minister along with 36 other business and charities reiterating commitment to implementing deposit return across the UK.

APRS has signed a letter, along with manufacturers, retailers and environmental organisations, has
written to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak urging him to work with the rest of the UK governments
and press ahead with a deposit return scheme (DRS) to protect the environment from littered
drinks packaging and dramatically increase recycling rates.

The charity’s research shows more than 70% of litter is the result of drinks consumption with
around 20 million drink containers littered, incinerated or ending up in landfill daily – that’s
more than seven billion wasted every year.

Following recent reports about the costs of DRS and calls to abandon it, the cohort –
including major soft drinks producers Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and Suntory, the British Soft
Drinks Association, a raft of environmental organisations including WWF, Surfers Against
Sewage and the Marine Conservation Society and trade body the Federation of Independent
Retailers – is collectively voicing support for the Government’s commitment to DRS,
reiterating it should be aligned across all nations in terms of deposit levels, timeline, scope
and fees.

The Government has pledged a target of reaching net zero by 2050 but this will require
stagnant recycling rates to increase significantly.

The most effective way of achieving this is through the introduction of a DRS, which will
provide the infrastructure to help significantly increase recycling rates – at no cost to the
taxpayer. Along with plans for Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for packaging, DRS
has huge potential to both address the litter crisis and create a more circular economy, with
valuable packaging materials retrieved and reused rather than ending up being buried,
burned or littered.