The close brings Eka's total assets under management to $200m. The fund, also backed by the British Business Bank, Better Society Capital, Guy's & St Thomas' Foundation and the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation, will deploy an average cheque of $2m, leading or co-leading 90 per cent of its deals. Founded in 2018 by Camilla Dolan and Jon Coker, Eka's first fund ranked in the top five per cent for both DPI and TVPI in its 2021 vintage.

Claire Shrewsbury, director of insights and innovation at WRAP, said: "Providing crucial funding to innovative new businesses at key stages in their development is essential to scale operations, and nurture true entrepreneurial spirit. Our vision is to bring the circular economy into every boardroom and every home and this funding programme will help realise that ambition."

Exchange for Change, which is already running DRS administration in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, was the only applicant to oversee operational design and delivery of the Welsh scheme. Its bid was rejected weeks before the Senedd was dissolved ahead of the 7 May elections, meaning no administrator can be confirmed until after the next government takes office. The Welsh government has reopened the process, with the new application window closing on 2 June.

Wales' scheme differs from those elsewhere in the UK by including glass drink containers, adding complexity to scheme design and delivery. The ACS said the failure to make progress was "extremely concerning", particularly given that the Welsh scheme is more complex and costly than those coming into force in the rest of the UK.

Sanderson joined The Recycling Association in 2023, succeeding Simon Ellin. He was previously managing director of market intelligence at Hanicke Robins Sanderson and editor of trade title MRW, and has worked in the recycling sector since 2004.

Sanderson said he was "proud to have guided our members through a very turbulent time where regulation and legislation has been heaped on them."

BIR argues that the sliding scale uses a scrap-adjusted approach that allows installations using less recycled steel to qualify as green despite higher CO2 emissions. The federation says this creates a perverse incentive structure that rewards carbon-intensive production and penalises steelmakers using more recycled material.

Steel production accounts for roughly eight per cent of global energy sector emissions and 30 per cent of industrial emissions. BIR is calling for green steel classifications based on actual, verifiable carbon intensity rather than adjustment factors, and for separate recognition of primary and secondary steelmaking routes.

The Welsh Senedd approved DRS legislation in March 2026, with the scheme due to launch in October 2027 alongside the rest of the UK. A first market engagement on return handling fees has been completed, and a second consultation is expected to launch after Easter.

Exchange for Change said it was "continuing to engage closely with the Welsh Government" following its application. The Welsh scheme is intended to be interoperable with the DRS operating in England, Northern Ireland and Scotland.