Mark Dudden, the Fed's president in Wales, wrote to the Cabinet Minister for Sustainability, Llyr Gruffydd, and copied the letter to First Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth. He warned that DRS infrastructure must have full interoperability with the rest of the UK to avoid fraud; the British Soft Drinks Association has said differences between schemes could create an annual fraud bill of up to £300 million.

The Fed reiterated concerns about including glass, citing extra weight and the risk of injury from broken bottles, and noted that the Republic of Ireland introduced DRS in February 2024 for plastic bottles and metal cans without glass. Dudden said retailers require certainty so they can plan ahead for the adoption of DRS, which is due in 15 months.

The plant will be built on land at Court Farm, Hindlip Lane, close to the headquarters of West Mercia Police and Hereford & Worcester Fire and Rescue Service, both of which objected to the application. It will produce renewable biomethane for homes and businesses and supports the introduction of mandatory household food waste collections.

Keith Warburton, chief executive of Stenergy Worcester, called the decision outstanding news for the company and the county, adding that it could now move forward with 'delivering a facility that turns waste into a valuable resource'.

Polytag's UV tag acts as a 'digital fingerprint', readable by detection units installed at material recovery facilities. Unlike visual identification systems, it can carry data such as material composition, recycled content and material origin, fed back to brands through the Polytag platform to help inform packaging design.

Polytag's UV tags are already used on milk bottles for retailers including Waitrose and Ocado. Jon Anderson, chief technology officer at Polytag, said: "For connected packaging to deliver real value, it needs to work across as many packaging formats as possible. Extending our technology into IML packaging is an important step forward."

The new MRF will use automated sorting systems to increase recovery rates and reduce contamination, with construction nearing completion and the plant expected to be fully operational later this year. The Development Bank of Wales loan forming part of a wider multi-million-pound investment that also includes group funds and a Welsh Government grant.

Griffiths Waste Management, established in 2010 and part of the Gavin Griffiths Group, currently processes between 25,000 and 30,000 tonnes of waste a year from its existing Swansea site, which has reached capacity.

The rebrand comes alongside a contract win with City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council to receive and process co-mingled dry mixed recycling collected across the district, running to 31 March 2029 with an option for a further year.

The Gateshead facility, on the former Graphite Resources site, will increase the group's processing capacity and create what MATIQ describes as a strategic recovery hub for the North East. The company, founded in Sheffield in 2013, completed a £25 million investment in its Sheffield site in 2024 before progressing the Gateshead development.