The Deposit Scheme for Drinks Containers (England and Northern Ireland) Regulations 2025

• (a) the grounds for imposing the VMP,

• (b) the amount of the penalty,

• (c) information as to the right to make representations within the period of 28 days beginning with the day on which the person receives the notice (referred to in this Part of this Schedule as “the 28-day period”).

Representations and objections

10

• (1) A person on whom a notice of intent is served may within the 28-day period make representations to the enforcement authority about the proposed imposition of the VMP.

• (2) Any representations or objections under this paragraph must be in writing.

Service of final notice

11

• (1) The enforcement authority must after considering any representations made within the 28-day period, notify the person concerned of its decision, with or without modifications.

• (2) Where the enforcement authority decides to impose a VMP, the enforcement authority must give a notice (referred to in this Part of this Schedule as a “final notice”) to the relevant person.

• (3) The final notice must be in writing.

Contents of final notice

12

A final notice must include—

• (a) the grounds for imposing the VMP,

• (b) the amount of the penalty,

• (c) how the payment may be made,

• (d) the period within which the payment must be made, which must not be less than 28 days from when the final notice is given,

• (e) information as to the right of appeal, and

• (f) information as to the consequences of failing to comply with the notice.

Appeal against a final notice

13

• (1) A person who receives a final notice may appeal against it.

• (2) The grounds of appeal are—

• (a) that the decision was based on an error of fact;

• (b) that the decision was wrong in law;

• (c) that the amount of the penalty is unreasonable;

• (d) that the decision was unreasonable for any other reason.

Part 5 — Compliance Notices

Issue of a compliance notice

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• (1) An enforcement authority may, by notice (a “compliance notice”), impose a requirement on a person to take such steps as the authority may specify, within such period as the authority may specify, to secure that the contravention of a requirement does not continue or recur in relation to an act or a contravention of a requirement mentioned in the CS Table, if the CS Table indicates such penalty is possible for the act or contravention.

• (2) Before imposing any such requirement, the enforcement authority must be satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for considering that the person has contravened or will contravene the relevant requirement.

• (3) A requirement must not be imposed on a person on more than one occasion in relation to the same act or omission unless the act or omission is a continuing act or omission.

• (4) But sub-paragraph (3) does not prevent an equivalent requirement being imposed on a person in a compliance notice if any earlier requirement imposed on that person in relation to the same act or omission has first been withdrawn.

Contents of a compliance notice

15

A compliance notice must include—

• (a) information as to the grounds for imposing the requirement,

• (b) information as to the compliance or restoration which is required and the period within which it must be completed,

• (c) information about the right of appeal, and

• (d) information as to the consequences of failing to comply with the notice.

Appeal against a compliance notice

16

• (1) A person who receives a compliance notice may appeal against it.

• (2) The grounds of appeal are—

• (a) that the decision was based on an error of fact;

• (b) that the decision was wrong in law;

• (c) that the nature of the requirement is unreasonable;

• (d) that the decision was unreasonable for any other reason.

Part 6 — Enforcement undertaking

Power to accept an enforcement undertaking and related matters

17

• (1) An enforcement authority may accept an enforcement undertaking from a person in a case where, in relation to an act or a contravention of a requirement mentioned in the CS Table, the CS Table indicates that a penalty is available for that act or contravention.

• (2) Before accepting any enforcement undertaking, the enforcement authority concerned must first establish a procedure appropriate to such undertakings.

• (3) The enforcement authority must—

• (a) consult such persons as it considers appropriate before establishing the procedure, and

• (b) publish the procedure established.

Contents of an enforcement undertaking

18

• (1) An enforcement undertaking must—

• (a) specify a relevant action,

• (b) specify the period within which that action must be completed, and

• (c) include—

• (i) a statement that the undertaking is made in accordance with this Part,

• (ii) the terms of the undertaking, and

• (iii) a statement as to how and when the person giving the undertaking should be considered to have discharged the undertaking.

• (2) An enforcement undertaking may be varied, or the period within which the relevant action is to be taken extended, if agreed in writing by the enforcement authority and the person who gave the enforcement undertaking.

• (3) For the purposes of this paragraph “relevant action” means—

• (a) action to secure that the contravention of the requirement of these Regulations does not continue or recur,

• (b) action to secure that the position is, so far as possible, restored to what it would have been had the contravention not occurred, or

• (c) action (including the payment of a sum of money) to benefit or improve the environment, such as action to prevent littering or increase the recycling of in-scope material from which containers are made.

Effect of acceptance of an enforcement undertaking

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• (1) If an enforcement authority accepts an enforcement undertaking under paragraph 17(1), the enforcement authority must not impose any other civil sanction in respect of the act or the contravention to which the enforcement undertaking relates.

• (2) But sub-paragraph (1) ceases to apply if the person fails to comply with the relevant enforcement undertaking or any part of it.

Publication of enforcement undertakings

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An enforcement authority must publish each enforcement undertaking it accepts in such manner as it considers appropriate for the purposes of bringing it to the attention of persons who may be affected.

Discharge of an enforcement undertaking

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• (1) If an enforcement authority is satisfied that an enforcement undertaking has been complied with, the enforcement authority must issue a certificate (a “discharge certificate”) to that effect.

• (2) An enforcement authority may require a person who has given an enforcement undertaking to provide sufficient information for the purposes of determining whether the person has complied with that undertaking.

• (3) A person who has given an enforcement undertaking may apply, at any time, for a discharge certificate.

• (4) Where an enforcement authority receives an application under sub-paragraph (3), the authority must within the relevant period—

• (a) decide whether to issue a discharge certificate, and

• (b) notify the person making the application of that decision.

• (5) The “relevant period” is the period of 14 days beginning with the day on which the enforcement authority receives the application in question.

Rights of appeal

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• (1) A person who has given an enforcement undertaking to an enforcement authority may appeal against a decision of that authority not to issue a discharge certificate.

• (2) The grounds of appeal are—

• (a) that the decision was based on an error of fact;

• (b) that the decision was wrong in law;

• (c) that the decision was unfair or unreasonable;

• (d) that the decision was wrong for any other reason.

Inaccurate, incomplete or misleading information

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• (1) A person who gives inaccurate, incomplete or misleading information in relation to an enforcement undertaking is to be regarded as not having complied with it.

• (2) An enforcement authority may revoke a discharge certificate if it was issued on the basis of inaccurate, incomplete or misleading information.

Partial compliance with an enforcement undertaking

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If a person has partly complied with an enforcement undertaking, the enforcement authority must take that into account when imposing any other civil sanction.

Schedule 7 — Procedure on Appeal

Application

1

• (1) Paragraph 2 applies to a person in England who wishes to appeal to the First-tier Tribunal under regulation 97 (such a person is referred to in this Schedule as an “FTT appellant”).

• (2) Paragraphs 3 to 5 apply to a person in Northern Ireland who wishes to appeal to the appeals commission under regulation 97 (such a person is referred to in this Schedule as a “PACNI appellant”).

• (3) In this Schedule, “appeals commission” means the planning appeals commission established in accordance with section 203 of the Planning Act (Northern Ireland) 2011²⁴.

Appeal to the First-tier Tribunal

2

• (1) A FTT appellant may appeal to the First-tier Tribunal in accordance with the GRC Rules 2009.

• (2) The GRC Rules 2009 apply to the appeal subject to the modification in sub-paragraph (3).

• (3) Rule 22 of the GRC Rules 2009 applies to an appeal brought under regulation 97 of these Regulations as if paragraph (1)(b) of that rule required the appeal to be brought within two months of the date on which the notice to which the appeal relates was sent to the FTT appellant.

• (4) In this paragraph “the GRC Rules 2009” means the Tribunal Procedure (First-tier Tribunal) (General Regulatory Chamber) Rules 2009²⁵.

Appeal to the appeals commission: notice of appeal

3

• (1) A PACNI appellant must appeal to the appeals commission by sending a notice to the appeals commission (“the notice of appeal”).

• (2) The notice of appeal must be in writing and must be accompanied by the relevant fee.

• (3) The relevant fee is the amount specified in regulation 9(1) of the Planning Fees (Deemed Planning Applications and Appeals) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015²⁶.

• (4) The notice of appeal must be accompanied by—

• (a) a statement of the grounds of appeal,

• (b) a copy of the notice which is the subject of the appeal,

• (c) a copy of any correspondence between the PACNI appellant and the deposit management organisation or the national enforcement authority and any other document relevant to the appeal,

• (d) a copy of any other document on which the PACNI appellant intends to rely for the purposes of the appeal, and

• (e) a statement indicating whether the PACNI appellant wishes the appeal to be in the form of a hearing or to be determined on the basis of written representations.

Appeal to the appeals commission: time for bringing appeal

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The notice of appeal under paragraph 3(1) must be given to the appeals commission before the end of the period of 2 months beginning with the date on which the notice to which the appeal relates was received by the appellant.

Appeal to the appeals commission: decision on appeal

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• (1) The appeals commission must notify the PACNI appellant in writing of the decision on the appeal and the reasons for that decision.

• (2) If the appeals commission determines the appeal after a hearing, the appeals commission must provide the appellant with a copy of any report made by the person who conducted the hearing.

• (3) The appeals commission must, at the same time as notifying the appellant of the decision on the appeal, send a copy of any document sent to the appellant under this paragraph to the national enforcement authority.

Signed

Mary Creagh — Parliamentary Under Secretary of State — Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs — 23rd January 2025

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

Explanatory Note

These Regulations are the first to be made under powers which include the powers in Schedule 8 to the Environment Act 2021 (c. 30). They establish, in England and Northern Ireland, a deposit scheme for container drinks which are supplied for consumption in England or Northern Ireland. The relevant containers are single-use closed bottles and cans made from polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic, steel or aluminium which contain between 150 millilitres and 3 litres of liquid.

From 1st October 2027, anyone in England or Northern Ireland who is supplied with a container drink to which these Regulations apply must pay a deposit to the person who supplies them with that drink, and a person who returns an empty container to a collector will be entitled to a refund. Under the scheme it will also be possible to return and claim a refund for certain empty containers from drinks which were purchased outside of England and Northern Ireland.

Part 1 of the Regulations contains introductory provisions.

Part 2 contains provisions on interpretation.

Part 3 contains provisions relating to the establishment of a deposit scheme for container drinks in England and Northern Ireland. This Part also sets out the circumstances in which a person is not entitled to a refund for a returnable item.

Chapter 1 of Part 4 contains provisions on registration requirements for scheme producers, the obligation of deposit management organisations to keep a register of registered scheme producers and provisions requiring registered scheme producers to keep records relating to the supply of container drinks. Deposit management organisations have powers to obtain information from registered scheme producers and powers relating to the cancellation of registration. Chapter 2 contains provisions relating to registered low volume products. Chapter 3 contains provisions relating to payments by registered scheme producers to deposit management organisations.

Part 5 contains provisions relating to scheme suppliers, including a prohibition on the supply of drinks produced by a scheme producer who is not registered, and provisions relating to the labelling of deposit items, of scheme multipacks and of registered low volume products. Part 5 also contains provisions requiring scheme suppliers to display information about the deposit scheme and about registered low volume products and also provisions giving deposit management organisations the power to obtain information from scheme suppliers.

Part 6 contains provisions relating to the return of returnable items. Chapter 1 of Part 6 contains provisions on items subject to overseas schemes. Chapter 2 contains provisions relating to mandatory return points for container drinks and chapter 3 contains provisions relating to voluntary return points. Chapter 4 contains provisions on information to be provided at return points and chapter 5 contains provisions on take-back services and on the collection or acceptance of returnable items by deposit management organisations. Chapter 6 contains provisions on the register of return points, the register of return point exemptions and the register of take-back service providers and chapter 7 contains provisions on the general obligations of scheme collectors to offer payment for returnable items and to retain them for collection.

Part 7 contains provisions relating to the role of the deposit management organisation as scheme administrator. Chapter 1 contains provisions on the appointment and governance of a deposit management organisation and chapter 2 contains provisions on the issue and administration arrangements for scheme logos, scheme packaging logos and scheme return codes. Chapter 3 contains provisions relating to deposits, including determining the amount of the deposit and the use that may be made of amounts received as deposits. Chapter 4 contains provisions relating to fees for registration, and chapter 5 contains provisions relating to the collection of returnable items, including reviews of the operation of return points. Chapter 6 contains provisions on the recycling of in-scope materials from drinks containers which have been returned. Chapter 7 contains provisions relating to national enforcement authorities and chapter 8 contains provisions relating to deposit management organisations working with other scheme administrators established in Wales, Scotland or overseas. Chapter 9 contains provisions relating to the internal review of decisions made by deposit management organisations. Chapter 10 contains provisions relating to the revocation of a person’s appointment as the deposit management organisation and includes provisions relating to the Secretary of State (or another person) acting as interim scheme administrator until a person is appointed as the deposit management organisation.

Part 8 contains provisions relating to targets for deposit management organisations.

Part 9 contains provisions relating to enforcement. Chapter 2 sets out enforcement powers applicable in England and Northern Ireland respectively and contains powers for the appropriate authorities to require the provision of information. Chapter 3 contains provisions relating to offences and chapter 4 provisions relating to civil sanctions. Chapter 5 contains provisions relating to the publication of enforcement action in a public register.

Part 10 sets out provisions relating to rights of appeal and the procedure on appeal.

Part 11 sets out the functions of the national enforcement authorities.

Part 12 contains provisions for a review of the regulatory provisions contained in these Regulations.

A full impact assessment of the effect that these Regulations will have on the costs of business, the voluntary sector and the public sector is available from www.legislation.gov.uk, and from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Seacole Building, 2 Marsham Street, London, SW1P 4DF.

Footnotes