Fed member Kaual Patel tells Labour conference that small shops are vital to success or failure of DRS

(The Fed’s Kaual Patel talks to Labour conference about the opportunities and challenges for independent retail a year ahead of the DRS launch in October 2027)

A leading Fed member told Labour MPs, senior industry representatives and the Deposit Management Organisation, Exchange for Change, that small independent retailers will be vital for the success or failure of the deposit return scheme (DRS) once it goes live in October 2027, during the Labour conference in Liverpool on Monday, September 28.

But independent retailer Kaual Patel, of Torridon Stores in South East London, added that he and fellow retailers needed advice and guidance, particularly for those who intended to participate voluntarily.

Mr Patel was speaking during a panel discussion that included Labour MPs Chris Bloore and Deirdre Costigan, as well as Zak Miller of CMB RVM company, Sam Jones of Coca-Cola Europacific Partners GB and Guy Mason representing Heineken. The event –  which took place on the second day of Labour conference – took place at Albert Dock’s Premier Inn next to the River Mersey.

DRS Panel at Labour Conference, L-R: Deirdre Costigan MP; Chris Bloore MP; Kaual Patel (the Fed); Rachael Burford (Panel Chair and Chief Political Correspondent at The Standard); Zak Miller (CMB RVM Solutions); Guy Mason (Heineken UK); Sam Jones (Coca Cola Europacific Partners).

The active Fed member – who is already an established advocate of DRS also repeated calls from the Fed’s Annual Conference in June for members to “start preparing as soon as possible”.

He said that whilst he acknowledged the costs associated with the scheme and setting up a reverse vending machine or manual return point, these could be dwarfed by lost business of 20-30% from footfall diverted to competitor businesses who participated in the scheme.

Calling for help and support from Exchange for Change, Mr Patel continued: “My message is simple: retailers need clarity, guidance, and support from the scheme—particularly smaller retailers wanting to participate voluntarily.”

Mr Patel also highlighted the importance of ensuring those smallest shops who are in urban areas with a floor area of less than 100sqm should be able to opt-in as easily as possible and that the voluntary registration process for these businesses should not be burdensome. He also discussed the need to help boost customer awareness of DRS and the need for a clear pricing system so that customers clearly understood the additional cost of the DRS deposit in bottle and can pricing so as to minimise any uncertainty or friction between retailers and their customers.

He also spoke of his work to trial DRS at his business in Catford in South East London, to boost local awareness, but said more needs to be done to help the general public prepare for DRS- not just retailers and others in industry like bottle suppliers.

The panel was overwhelmingly supportive of the scheme. However, Chris Bloore MP who acts as Chair of the Packaging in the Circular Economy All Party Parliamentary group, said there were real challenges associated with DRS and also said there was much to be learned from other countries, such as in Scandinavia who had DRS in place for many years and had achieved very high recycling return rates.

(The Fed’s Political Engagement Coordinator, Doug Oliver and Kaual Patel after the event at Labour Conference in Liverpool)