What Will DRS Mean for Council Budgets?

The Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) is intended to improve recycling, but the financial impact on councils could extend beyond the cost of introducing the scheme. By diverting drinks containers from existing kerbside collections, the scheme could affect both the value of recyclable materials and the cost of running those services.

Those concerns have surfaced in the debate around DRS. LARAC (the Local Authority Recycling Advisory Committee) has called for an urgent review of the financial implications for councils, arguing that Defra’s 2024 impact assessment, which estimated savings of 69p per household, may not fully reflect current recycling behaviour or the combined effects of other waste reforms. Its concerns include lost income from recyclable materials, higher processing costs and changes to existing contracts.

Although councils cannot control every financial impact of waste reform, they can take steps to improve visibility and control over their fleet costs. How vehicles are funded, maintained and replaced affects both the cost of running collection services and the ability to keep them running.

To support councils as they prepare for DRS, Endurance has secured more than 140 vehicles to meet the fleet requirements associated with the scheme. Through our Equipment-as-a-Service model, we bring vehicle provision together with maintenance, compliance, fleet reporting and replacement provision. This gives councils greater visibility of fleet costs and performance, with maintenance and replacement support to help keep the vehicles needed for collections available.

As waste policy evolves, councils need to understand the full cost of delivering their services, including the fleet and support required long after a new scheme is introduced.

Reviewing your fleet? Find out how Endurance can help with your vehicle and fleet requirements through our Fleet Management Services.

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