RFP QuestBeta
OpenStage · planning

DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) Litter Survey

Engineering & ArchitectureCPV 73210000
Value£200k
Deadline
Published22 Jan 2026
RegionNationwide
Who to contact
joyce.angoma@defra.gov.uk

The procurement contact named on the official notice.

Contract value in context
£200ktotal contract value
median £66k
this tender£0£561k

This is a large award for Research & Development — above three-quarters of comparable contracts. Based on 20,405 valued Research & Development tenders in our corpus.

When this comes round again

DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS publishes Research & Development work continuously — 15 notices, roughly one every 12 days. This is a stream to watch, not a cycle to wait for.

14% of DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS’s awards go to a supplier it has used before.

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The brief

The UK Government is introducing a Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) for drinks containers, launching in October 2027.

Under the scheme, consumers will pay a small, refundable deposit on single use PET and metal drinks containers, which is returned when the container is brought back to a return point.

The aim is to reduce litter, increase recycling rates, and generate high quality recycled materials.

The latest published policy statement from May 2025 can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/deposit-return-scheme-for-drinks-containers-policy-statement/deposit-return-scheme-for-drinks-containers-policy-statement?utm_source=copilot.com Defra is commissioning a national litter composition study for 2027 to update the 2020 study.

This new evidence is needed to set a pre-launch baseline to evaluate the impact of the DRS and to support wider Circular Economy policy areas including plastics, vapes, litter, and packaging reforms.

The study will provide a robust, statistically valid picture of what is being littered across England and Northern Ireland and in what quantities, forming the foundation for future policy assessment. he commissioned service will replicate the 2020 methodology while expanding the scope to include new item classifications - particularly detailed categorisation of DRS in scope and out-of-scope drinks containers by size and material, and additional categories for vapes, plastics, and other priority items.

Suppliers will design and deliver a national fieldwork programme, collect and sort litter samples, and produce a full dataset and analytical report.

Key outputs include national estimates of litter composition and specific breakdowns of DRS eligible container litter by count and volume, establishing a clear pre DRS baseline.

Requirements

What the notice asks for

01

This new evidence is needed to set

This new evidence is needed to set a pre-launch baseline to evaluate the impact of the DRS and to support wider Circular Economy policy areas including plastics, vapes, litter, and packaging reforms.

02

The study will provide a robust, statistically

The study will provide a robust, statistically valid picture of what is being littered across England and Northern Ireland and in what quantities, forming the foundation for future policy assessment.

03

Suppliers will design and deliver a national

Suppliers will design and deliver a national fieldwork programme, collect and sort litter samples, and produce a full dataset and analytical report.

Sentences from the notice that state an obligation, surfaced automatically and shown in the order they appear. Not an exhaustive list — always confirm against the tender documents.

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Source & provenance
OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-060c5f
Stage
planning · Planning
Source
Find a Tender
Buyer ref
005818-2026
View the original notice on Find a Tender

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source data © Crown copyright.

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