Fees set to be paid to retailers on DRS has been confirmed
EXCHANGE for Change has confirmed the handling fees that will be paid to return point operators has part of the upcoming deposit return scheme (DRS).
The industry-led organisation tasked with delivering DRS for Scotland, England and Northern Ireland has confirmed the new return handling fee (RHF) for retailers for when the scheme launches in October 2027.
The RHF will operate on a tiered basis across manual and automatic return points and will provide for small and large volumes of returned containers.
Exchange for Change has confirmed it has set the RHF at:
• Manual return points – 3p per container.
• Automatic return points tier one – 5p per container, up to 225,000 in-scope items returned annually.
• Automatic return points tier two – 1.3p per container, for annual in-scope returns in excess of 225,00.
The RHF has been confirmed as a result of extensive industry consultation, engagement and research with the wider industry.
Further to this, the RHF will be reviewed early in 2027 prior to the scheme going live and will continue to be reviewed annually to take account of new data available from producers and retailers, as well as to consider other relevant factors.
This annual review will use real data collected during the operation of DRS which will build a profile of the RHF and factors that impact it to ensure that the data becomes more robust with every year.
This follows on from the announcement of the 20p deposit value that will be applied to every in-scope container as part of the scheme.
Russell Davies, chief executive at Exchange for Change, said: “We have taken onboard a wide range of feedback provided by retailers, producers and trade bodies, and established a return handling fee that reflects the complexities of the UK retail landscape and ensures the scheme remains in balance.
“The UK’s retail landscape is unique in the world, spanning large supermarket chains, medium-sized franchises and a very high ratio of small and independent convenience stores comparative to other nations.
“This means the network of return points across the UK will be extensive, and the nature of collections will range from small convenience stores manually collecting and returning a small amount of containers, through to large multinational supermarket chains operating multiple reverse vending machines that collect several thousand containers each week at every store.
“The RHF reflects this diversity in our retail sector, and delivers a fair scheme for all.”
