Small independent retailers will be vital for the success or failure of the deposit return scheme (DRS) once it goes live in October 2027, a leading Fed member told Labour MPs, senior industry representatives and the deposit management organisation, Exchange for Change, during the recent Labour conference in Liverpool.
London member Kaual Patel, of Torridon Stores in Catford, South East London, added that he and fellow retailers – particularly those who intended to participate voluntarily – needed clear advice and guidance. Patel was speaking during a panel discussion that included Labour MPs Chris Bloore and Deirdre Costigan, as well as Zak Miller of CMB RVM company, Sam Jones of Coca-Cola Europacific Partners GB and Guy Mason representing Heineken.
Retailer calls for preparation and support
The event took place on the second day of Labour’s conference at Albert Dock’s Premier Inn next to the River Mersey. The active Fed member – who is already an established advocate of DRS – also repeated calls from the Fed’s Annual Conference in June for members to “start preparing as soon as possible”.
He said that whilst he acknowledged the costs associated with the scheme and setting up a reverse vending machine or manual return point, these could be dwarfed by lost business of 20-30% from footfall diverted to competitor businesses who participate in the scheme.
Clarity and guidance for voluntary participants
Calling for help and support from Exchange for Change, Patel continued: “My message is simple: retailers need clarity, guidance, and support from the scheme – particularly smaller retailers wanting to participate voluntarily.”
He also highlighted the importance of ensuring those smallest shops who are in urban areas with a floor area of less than 100sqm should be able to opt-in as easily as possible and that the voluntary registration process for these businesses should not be burdensome.
Customer awareness and pricing concerns
The need to help boost customer awareness of DRS was also stressed by Patel who called for a clear pricing system so that customers clearly understood the additional cost of the DRS deposit in bottle and can pricing to minimise any uncertainty or friction between retailers and their customers.
He spoke about the DRS trial currently running at his Catford business to boost local awareness but said that more needed to be done to help the public prepare. The panel was overwhelmingly supportive of the scheme. However, Chris Bloore MP, who acts as chair of the Packaging in the Circular Economy All Party Parliamentary group, said there were real challenges associated with DRS and there was much to be learned from other countries, such as in Scandinavia which had DRS in place for many years and had achieved very high recycling return rates.
