British Glass welcomes exclusion of glass bottles in future DRS

British Glass has welcomed the exclusion of glass bottles from England's future Deposit Return Scheme (DRS).

The industry body said while a DRS works for some packaging materials like plastic and aluminium cans, it is ‘not the right solution for glass’ – something other organisations disagree on.

It claims a DRS with glass bottles would have ‘increased the carbon emissions in our atmosphere by two million tonnes’, increased plastic consumption, and split glass food and beverage packaging into two waste streams .

British Glass said it was disappointed the Welsh Government plasn to include glass in its scheme, as Wales has a high glass kerbside recycling rate, capturing 87% of glass bottles and jars through household collections. This shows that the current system is working, whereas the evidence shows that including glass in a DRS could in actual fact jeopardise recycling rates – contrary to the scheme's objectives.

Dave Dalton, chief executive, British Glass, said: "DEFRA and the Northern Ireland Executive are absolutely right to keep glass bottles out of Deposit Return Schemes in England and Northern Ireland.

"Including glass bottles in a DRS would have led to over two million more tonnes of CO₂ in our atmosphere, split glass food and beverage packaging into two waste streams, reduce the amount and the quality of recycled material available to be used again in glass bottles and led to more plastic packaging on the market.

"We already have a convenient solution to improving glass recycling, and it's at our doorsteps. By recycling glass through consistent kerbside collections, Extended Producer Responsibility, and campaigns to promote a better culture of recycling, we can meet the glass industry's recycling rate target of 90% by 2030."