Kicking off his tenure, he has called on the Welsh Government to help unlock the way for an interoperable Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) to support recycling. The BSDA represents UK producers of soft drinks, including carbonated drinks, still and dilutable drinks, fruit juices and bottled waters.
Watkins was appointed at the trade body’s AGM on 11th June and took over from Paul Graham, managing director of Britvic. Pete Charles, managing director at Red Bull since 2018, has been elected as vice president of the BSDA.
Watkins, who has been vice president of the BSDA since 2020, said: “The go-live date for DRS across the UK has been pushed back to October 2027. As it stands, the Welsh Government continues to be an outlier in calling for the inclusion of glass within scope of its DRS.
“A lack of alignment in this area would create different market conditions within Great Britain, something which carries the potential to confuse consumers and impede efforts to achieve the high collections rates of PET and aluminium beverage containers necessary to fuel the circular economy for beverage packaging.
“I am calling on the Welsh Government to reconsider its approach to help unlock the way to an interoperable DRS that benefits the environment, consumers and industry alike.”