By Andy Bagnall, Director General of the British Soft Drinks Association

As members of the UK’s food and drink sector come together at IFE 2026, two major policy developments are set to shape the soft drinks operating environment in the years to come: the introduction of a UK-wide deposit return scheme, and changes to the Nutrient Profiling Model. While they are designed to deliver environmental and public health benefits, it is critical that they are implemented in a way that works in practice for businesses and consumers alike.

Progress towards a UK-wide deposit return scheme

Recent regulations laid by the Welsh Government represent an important step towards delivering a deposit return scheme for metal and plastic drinks containers across the UK, despite the UK Government’s decision to allow the scheme in Wales to include single-use glass.

For many years, the British Soft Drinks Association has supported an interoperable, UK-wide scheme with a planned go-live date of October 2027. A unified approach with aluminium cans and plastic bottles in scope is essential to ensure simplicity for consumers and efficiency for producers and retailers, and international evidence shows that a well-designed deposit return scheme can cut litter dramatically – helping to tackle the billions of plastic bottles and cans that currently go unrecycled in the UK each year. The UK deposit return scheme is unlocking more than £1 billion in investment, with the soft drinks sector contributing the lion’s share, and will create around 4,000 new jobs.

However, glass remains a thorn in the scheme’s side, with Wales intending to include single-use glass as part of its deposit return scheme. Too much divergence between schemes across the Four Nations will create operational challenges, increase fraud risk and add unnecessary cost.

The priority now is for officials in Wales to appoint a scheme administrator quickly and ensure glass is incorporated in the most practical and proportionate way possible. Ideally, Industry would still prefer glass to be left out as kerbside recycling rates are already high. Either way, the goal must be a workable, interoperable deposit return scheme that boosts recycling and reduces litter without placing avoidable burdens on shoppers or small businesses.

Nutrient profiling and unintended consequences

The soft drinks sector is also responding to the UK Government’s update to the Nutrient Profiling Model.

Tackling obesity is a shared priority, and the soft drinks industry has already made significant progress. Over the past decade and a half, producers have invested hundreds of millions of pounds in reformulation to reduce sugar. In 2024, more than seven out of every 10 soft drinks sold in the UK was low or no sugar.

The proposed changes to the Nutrient Profiling Model risk undermining that progress. Under the new model, fruit juice would be classified as ‘less healthy’ due to naturally occurring sugars. However, this ignores the fact that a 150ml serving counts towards your 5 A Day. At a time when more than nine in ten 11–18-year-olds already fail to meet that target, reclassifying fruit juice could send confusing signals to consumers.

Expanding the scope of the Nutrient Profiling Model could also result in more lower-sugar drinks being labelled ‘less healthy’, potentially reducing choice as well as undermining industry investment in reformulation. Any application of the model must avoid undermining progress or limiting sensible options for consumers, and we call on officials to work closely with producers to ensure the updated Nutrient Profiling Model is implemented into regulations in a way that avoids these consequences.

Across both environmental and public health policy, collaboration between government and industry will be critical. Get this right, and we can both kickstart the circular economy and continue the mission to support healthier choices for consumers.

Learn more about the British Soft Drinks Association at britishsoftdrinks.com.