Environment Act 2021

Power to establish deposit schemes

1 (1) The relevant national authority may by regulations establish deposit schemes for any of the following purposes—

(a) sustaining, promoting or securing an increase in the recycling or reuse of materials;

(b) reducing the incidence of littering or fly-tipping.

(2) A deposit scheme is a scheme under which—

(a) a person supplied with a deposit item by a scheme supplier pays the supplier an amount (a “deposit”), and

(b) a person who provides a deposit item to a scheme collector is entitled to be paid an amount (a “refund”) in respect of that item by the collector.

(3) A “deposit item” is a specified item that is supplied—

(a) by way of sale, or

(b) in connection with the supply of goods or services.

(4) A deposit scheme may make provision about the circumstances in which a deposit or refund is to be paid in respect of a deposit item.

(5) A person may be specified—

(a) as a scheme supplier if the person is a supplier or producer of deposit items;

(b) as a scheme collector if the person is a supplier or producer of deposit items or is a scheme administrator (see paragraph 4).

(6) A deposit scheme may provide that the amount of the deposit or refund in respect of a deposit item is—

(a) an amount specified,

(b) an amount determined and published by the relevant national authority in accordance with the scheme, or

(c) an amount determined by a scheme administrator in accordance with the scheme.

(7) In this paragraph “specified” means specified or described in a deposit scheme.