31 July 2025

With England generating over 193 million tonnes of waste annually and national recycling rates stagnating at 44% since 2015, the UK faces a critical waste management tipping point. In response to mounting environmental, economic, and regulatory pressures, CLUBZERØ has unveiled a commercially viable, compliant Reuse Deposit Return System (DRS) tailored to meet the goals of the UK’s Environment Act 2021 and support the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) reforms. EPR will require brands to cover the full net cost of packaging waste management.

The packaging sector – a primary contributor to the UK’s waste crisis – is set to pay £2billion in EPR fees for 2024. These funds will support local councils with waste costs across urban centers like London, where recycling rates lag at 29.9% and 63% of all waste is incinerated, to alleviate environmental and fiscal burden.

Nick Kirk, Federation Director at British Glass said: “Glass is the ideal packaging material for reuse as it is a truly circular material.  It does not degrade or contaminate the contents of the packaging each time it is reused.  Glass packaging is capable of being reused multiple times, which can exceed over 40 reuse cycles.  British Glass is engaging with the supply chain on reuse, as reuse is a great opportunity for glass packaging and will support the UK circular economy aims.”

CLUBZERØ convened industry leaders including beverage brands, retailers and policy makers at its Reuse Roundtable for the official release of CLUBZERØ’s report: How Reuse DRS systems bring Economic Development UK, which outlines savings achieved across urban centres such as London when moving to Reuse DRS. The report spotlights glass bottles as a primary place to initiate this.

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At the heart of CLUBZERØ’s Reuse DRS is a closed loop infrastructure—combining DRS machines, reverse logistics, and industrial sortation and wash facilities—designed to support brands with traceability on their reuse activities and EPR exemption. With the UK government planning to implement a national DRS in 2027, CLUBZERØ offers a complementary Reuse DRS that delivers economic value and tax exemption.

The report models the impact of processing 110 million glass bottles per year, representing around 1.5% of the UK’s total beverage packaging volume. At this volume alone, beverage brands are projected to save over £16 million annually after year one through reduced glass production costs and EPR exemptions. UK Government and asset managers are set to save £35 million per year after year one, by replacing the costs of waste collection, incineration, and landfill with DRS machines and a sortation centre.

Beyond cost savings, CLUBZERØ’s Reuse DRS diverts 16,000+ tonnes of glass from waste streams and avoids more than 13,000+ tonnes of CO₂ emissions. It also creates over 300 full-time jobs across logistics, operations, and industrial washing, generating social value throughout the reuse supply chain.

While these figures demonstrate strong returns, they reflect only a city-scale deployment. The potential at national scale is transformative. If CLUBZERØ’s Reuse DRS were deployed to cover the entire UK packaging glass bottle sector (67.5 billion glass bottles annually) the projected benefits would scale dramatically for both the public and private sector. CLUBZERØ’s Reuse DRS has the potential to unlock substantial economic, environmental, and social value firmly positioning reuse as a cornerstone of the UK’s circular economy transition.

This is not a marginal improvement, but a structural shift in how packaging is managed in the UK. As the country prepares to implement its most ambitious waste policy to date, CLUBZERØ’s Reuse DRS offers a pathway for the public and private sector to lead the transition to a circular economy.

Safia Qureshi, Founder and CEO of CLUBZERØ said: “We see a future where the glass sector leads the way for Reuse DRS not just here in the UK but also in other countries passing EPR laws. Reuse systems bring monumental economic development to government, asset managers and industry as the cost of glass waste is significant and production of new packaging also costly. We support the glass sector in its journey towards pioneering zero waste in the UK.”

If you'd like access to the report please email us at hello@clubzero.co

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