The Exchange for Change organisation delivering the UK’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) has announced the intended producer fees for the scheme, due to launch in October 2027.
The move comes after ‘extensive consultation and engagement’ with industry over several months. Producer fees are the charges drinks producers will pay to help cover the costs of operating the DRS.
Aiming to minimize business costs at the start of the scheme, the producer fee will be set at 0p for the first 15 months from October 2027 to December 2028. Based on current data, the organisation estimates that producer fees will then increase to 0.6p per unit for aluminium and steel containers and 2.3p per unit for PET containers, expected to take effect from January 2029 to December 2032.
Exchange for Change adds that this will be reviewed, validated and reconfirmed in May 2027 and the producer fees will then be reviewed annually as further contractual pricing, cost forecasts and operational data becomes available.
Russell Davies, Exchange For Change chief executive, said: “Publishing the producer fees is another major milestone delivered as we move towards the launch of the deposit return scheme in October 2027, and will help businesses in their preparation and planning. Our approach to setting the producer fees has been founded on collaborative and constructive engagement with industry, and I would like to thank all of those whose contributions helped to inform and guide the outcome.
“As a not-for-profit organisation, we are committed to ensuring that producer fees always remain as low as possible, while supporting the long-term financial sustainability of the scheme.”
This summer the organisation worked with Danone and the All England Lawn Tennis Club to pilot reverse vending machines for evian water bottles at the Wimbledon Championship Qualifying Competition, testing their logistics ahead of the UK DRS rollout in 2027. During the event, spectators could purchase 75cl plastic bottles of evian water on-site with a 20p (€0.23) deposit factored into its price.
In June, Sweden’s Returpack/Pantamera became ‘the first’ deposit return system in Europe to receive RecyClass certification for its PET bottle sorting process, verifying that the recycled plastic is food-safe and meets EU traceability requirements. Returpack previously reported that it had collected over 3 billion PET bottles and aluminium cans in 2025, marking a 130 million increase compared to the previous year.
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