Wales opens applications for DRS operator

The Welsh government announced the commencement of the process in appointing a deposit management organisation (DMO) to run the country’s deposit return scheme (DRS) on 28 November 2025.

Huw Irranca-Davies MS, deputy first minister and cabinet secretary for climate change and rural affairs, declared that the application deadline for the DMO will be 23 January 2026.

In a statement, the deputy first minister and cabinet secretary said: “The commencement of the application process is being done in parallel with the work to bring forward the regulations, which will be laid before the Senedd in February next year. Subject to the DRS Regulations being approved by the Senedd, the successful applicant can then be appointed by the Welsh Ministers from March 2026. This approach mirrors that taken by the UK government in the development of their regulations and appointment of the DMO for England.” 

The UK DMO will be responsible for the operation of the DRS scheme in England, Northern Ireland and Scotland, led by CEO Russel Davies.

Later in his statement, Huw Irranca-Davies emphasised that if the UK government does not grant the legal flexibility required for glass inclusion in Wales’ scheme, the country could be left without one: “The Welsh Government has… formally proposed an exclusion for the Deposit Return Scheme in Wales to the United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020 (UKIMA), noting that the scope of the scheme is fully within devolved competence. We have also been clear that should that exclusion as requested not be agreed, this would lead to the scenario where there would be no DRS in Wales, and as such an exclusion would be required for the schemes in other nations,” Irranca-Davies highlighted.

It was first announced that Wales would run its own independent scheme, separate to the UK’s, in November 2024.