The UK deposit return scheme starts in October 2027. If you sell drinks, you will need a way to take containers back — and for a lot of retailers that means a reverse vending machine and a bill to go with it.
This sets out what actually drives the cost, what the machine earns back, how the £6,000 grant really works, and — the question worth asking first — whether you need one at all.
How much does a reverse vending machine cost?
Nobody publishes a price. TOMRA, the largest supplier in the market, says on its own pricing page that cost is discussed individually with each retailer. The other UK suppliers work the same way. Anyone quoting you a figure online without a specification attached is guessing.
What moves the number: throughput, whether it takes one stream or sorts plastic from metal, whether it compacts, the bin capacity that decides how often staff empty it, and whether it sits indoors or outdoors.
So the useful question is not “what does one cost” but “what does one cost me, net, over five years” — purchase or finance cost, less handling fees, less the grant, plus servicing. That is a calculation you can only do with quotes against your own container volumes. Get two or three.
Bin capacity looks like a detail and is not. Retailers in Vienna, a year into their scheme, reported high-volume machines needing emptying up to ten times a day, and daily cleaning to stay reliable. A cheaper machine with a smaller bin can cost more in staff time than it saves in capital.
First, do you even need one?
This gets skipped, and it should not, because for a lot of small shops the answer is no.
- Stores under 100 m² in urban areas are automatically exempt from hosting a return point. You can still opt in voluntarily if you want the handling-fee income and the extra footfall.
- Other exemptions may be available where hosting a return point genuinely is not feasible for your site.
- You still have to register the store with Exchange for Change while any exemption is assessed.
- The alternative is a manual return point — staff scan containers at the till. No capital cost, a lower handling fee, and containers must not be crushed because they get scanned again at the depot.
Settle this before anyone shows you a machine. A supplier is not the right person to tell you whether you need their product.
What the machine earns back
The retail handling fee is what turns this from a compliance cost into something you can put a funding case around:
| Return method | Fee per container | Applies to |
|---|---|---|
| Manual return point | 3p | Every container, flat |
| Reverse vending machine | 5p | First 225,000 containers a year |
| Reverse vending machine | 1.3p | Every container after that |
The 225,000 threshold is the figure to test yourself against. That is about 4,300 containers a week, or 620 a day. A busy convenience store will pass it; a village shop will not come close.
It applies per return point, not per business. If you run several stores, each one gets its own 5p tier up to 225,000 — which materially changes the case for a multi-site operator compared with a single shop.
At the threshold, a machine is worth about £4,500 a year more than handling it manually: 225,000 at 5p is £11,250, against £6,750 at the 3p manual rate. That is before the staff time a machine does not consume.
The handling fee is due to be reviewed in spring 2027, before launch, and annually after that. Build your case on today’s numbers but do not treat them as fixed for the life of an agreement.
The grant: £2,000 a year, for three years
Exchange for Change has £60 million available for up to 10,000 small independent retailers who operate an automatic return point. It is £6,000 per site — but read how it lands:
- It is paid over three years, at £2,000 a year. Not as a lump sum, and not up front.
- You buy the machine in full, at the start.
- Eligibility criteria and the application process were still awaiting confirmation as at August 2026.
So the grant is real money and worth having, but it does not solve the problem people assume it solves. You carry the whole cost of the machine from day one and recover a third of £6,000 a year for three years. For a small independent that is a genuine working-capital gap, not a subsidy that arrives when the invoice does.
Which is precisely the shape of thing asset finance exists for: spread the cost of the machine over the period it earns, and let the handling fees and the grant instalments arrive in their own time rather than funding the lot out of your float.
Do not build the grant into your repayment plan. Until the criteria are published nobody can tell you with certainty that a given store qualifies. Fund the machine so it works whether the £6,000 lands or not, and treat the grant as a reduction in cost if it does.
Lease, hire purchase, or buy outright?
Three routes, and the right one depends less on the rate than on how certain you are about the machine.
| Route | Suits you if | Watch for |
|---|---|---|
| Buy outright | You have the cash and are confident in the specification | Several thousand pounds of working capital tied up in a machine before the scheme has even started |
| Hire purchase | You want to own it — the machine outlives the agreement and keeps earning | You carry the obsolescence risk if the specification moves |
| Lease | You would rather not commit to one machine for a decade, or want maintenance bundled | You do not own it at the end; check what happens at the term’s end before you sign |
One factor tilts this more than usual here: the software specification for UK machines had not been published as at August 2026, while the hardware specification came out in February. Committing to own a machine outright, for a scheme whose technical requirements are not finalised, carries a risk that a lease does not.
Maintenance deserves weight too. These are machines that get fed dirty, part-full containers by the public all day. Vienna’s experience was that daily cleaning is the difference between a reliable machine and a broken one.
If you produce drinks rather than sell them
Machines have taken the headlines, but the packaging and labelling job is arguably harder and has its own equipment cost.
Every in-scope container needs a new GTIN, so it can be told apart from legacy stock at the till, on the invoice and in the machine, plus the scheme deposit logo — fitted around allergen warnings, nutritional information, country of origin and existing recycling labelling. There are rules on barcode format and placement, and a decision about whether to move to 2D or QR codes while the packaging is changing anyway.
In practice that can mean new coding, labelling, print or vision equipment, and the producer deadline is September 2027 — a month before launch. It funds like any other plant and machinery.
The exemption is narrow: only producers placing fewer than 5,000 units a year on the market, assessed per SKU. Your best-selling lines can need the work while your smallest do not.
Thinking about it? Here is what to send
- The supplier quote or specification — ideally two or three
- Your latest accounts, and how the business is constituted
- A realistic estimate of containers per week, and your store size in square metres
- How many sites, and whether you are applying for the grant
We will tell you what the funding would realistically look like. If your volumes say a manual return point is the better answer, or that you are exempt and need nothing at all, we will tell you that instead — we would rather do that than arrange finance for a machine that never pays for itself.
Common questions
How much does a reverse vending machine cost in the UK?
There is no published list price. TOMRA, the largest supplier, states on its own pricing page that price is discussed individually with each retailer, and the other UK suppliers work the same way. What drives the number is throughput, whether the machine takes a single stream or sorts plastic and metal, whether it compacts, the bin capacity that determines how often staff empty it, and whether it sits indoors or needs weatherproofing. Treat any figure you see quoted online without a specification attached as meaningless — get two or three quotes against your own container volumes.
Do I actually need a reverse vending machine?
Possibly not. If you operate a store under 100 square metres in an urban area you are automatically exempt from hosting a return point, though you can opt in voluntarily if you want the handling-fee income and the footfall. Other exemptions may be available where hosting a return point is not feasible. You still have to register the store with Exchange for Change while any exemption is assessed. The alternative to an RVM is a manual return point, where staff scan containers at the till — no capital cost, but a lower handling fee and real staff time. This is the first question to settle, before anyone talks to you about machines.
How do retailers pay for a reverse vending machine?
Usually on hire purchase or a lease over three to five years rather than outright. An RVM is a discrete asset with a working life beyond the agreement, and under the deposit return scheme it earns a handling fee on every container it accepts, so the asset generates the income that services the agreement. Where the retailer is a limited company the agreement is unregulated business lending, assessed on the company’s accounts and trading history. Hire purchase means you are treated as acquiring the asset, so capital allowances are generally available. All finance is subject to status, affordability and lender approval.
Is there a grant for reverse vending machines, and when is it paid?
Yes. Exchange for Change has set aside £60 million for up to 10,000 small independent retailers who choose to operate an automatic return point. The grant is £6,000 per site, paid over three years at £2,000 a year. That timing is the part that matters: you buy the machine in full at the start and recover the grant across three annual instalments, so the money arrives long after the cost does. Details of eligibility and the application process were still awaiting confirmation as at August 2026.
Should I lease or buy a reverse vending machine?
Buying outright costs least in total if you have the cash and are confident about the specification. Hire purchase spreads the cost over the machine’s earning life and you own it at the end, which suits an asset that will still be working after the agreement finishes. A lease keeps it off your balance sheet as an owned asset and can bundle maintenance, which matters more than people expect here — retailers in Vienna reported RVMs need cleaning daily, and high-volume machines being emptied up to ten times a day. With the specification for UK machines still being finalised, some retailers will prefer a lease precisely because it does not tie them to one machine for a decade.
What does a retailer earn per container under the deposit return scheme?
A manual return point earns 3p per container. A reverse vending machine earns 5p per container for the first 225,000 containers each year, then 1.3p after that. Crucially the 225,000 threshold applies per return point, not per business — so a multi-site retailer gets the 5p tier at each store. At exactly 225,000 containers an RVM earns £11,250 against £6,750 for manual handling of the same volume, a difference of £4,500 a year. The handling fee is set to be reviewed in spring 2027 and annually after that.
When does the UK deposit return scheme start?
October 2027 in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, administered by Exchange for Change. Containers between 150ml and three litres made from PET plastic or metal are in scope, each carrying a 20p deposit. HDPE containers such as milk bottles are not included. Wales intends to run its own scheme including glass but had not appointed a scheme administrator as at August 2026. If your machine is not delivered by October 2027 you must provide a manual takeback to stay compliant.
Can you finance packaging and labelling changes for DRS?
Yes, and producers should not overlook it. Every in-scope container needs a new GTIN and the scheme deposit logo alongside existing mandatory content such as allergen and nutrition information, which for many producers means new coding, labelling or print equipment. The producer deadline is September 2027. That equipment funds like any other plant and machinery, and on hire purchase capital allowances are generally available. Only producers placing fewer than 5,000 units a year on the market are exempt, assessed per SKU.
Sources
Grant mechanism, retail handling fees, exemption thresholds, the per-return-point rule and the handling-fee review date are from the ACS Deposit Return Scheme Resources Centre. Scheme timeline, producer labelling requirements and the position in Wales draw on The Grocer, 18 August 2026. Pricing practice is per TOMRA’s published pricing page. Scheme details were still being finalised when this was written — confirm the current position with Exchange for Change before committing.
CW Asset Finance is a credit broker, not a lender, and may receive a commission from the lender that funds your agreement. All finance is subject to status, affordability and lender approval. Nothing on this page is a quote or an offer of finance, or advice on your obligations under the deposit return scheme. Tax treatment depends on individual circumstances and may change — take advice from your accountant. CW Asset Finance is an Appointed Representative of Rural Finance Limited, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN 630701).