Sustainability Manager

About us

At Exchange for Change, we are building something the UK has never had before. Working across England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, we are designing and delivering a Deposit Return Scheme from the ground up, creating a system that helps reduce litter and waste by encouraging people to return their empty drinks bottles and cans for recycling.

This is not just another job. This is a rare opportunity to do meaningful work, shape a landmark national programme, and help deliver lasting positive impact for people, businesses and the planet alike.

This is a unique and genuinely impactful sustainability role at the heart of the UK Deposit Return Scheme (DRS). The Sustainability Manager will measure, maximise and communicate the scheme's positive environmental outcomes. With environmental improvement at the heart of the UK DRS scheme, this role is central to the mission ahead of the go‑live date of 1st October 2027.

Reporting to the Head of Operations & Performance, the Sustainability Manager owns the scheme's ESG performance framework, translates operational data into meaningful environmental insight, and ensures the scheme can credibly demonstrate its contribution to the circular economy, national recycling targets, and net zero goals across Scotland, England, and Northern Ireland.

Note: this role can be based in either Milton Keynes, Glasgow or Belfast.

Turning the scheme's environmental ambition into measurable, credible, and continuously improving real‑world impact.

• Own and maintain the scheme's ESG performance framework, tracking and reporting on all key environmental metrics including materials recovered, carbon intensity of operations, and contribution to circular economy targets
• Produce regular ESG performance reports for internal leadership, the board, government, and regulatory stakeholders, ensuring data is accurate, credible, and presented in a compelling and accessible way
• Ensure the scheme's reporting aligns with recognised frameworks
• Maintain a clear and current view of the scheme's environmental performance against targets, flagging risks and opportunities

• Work closely with the Data & Analytics team to translate container return volumes into tangible environmental impact metrics, including carbon savings and landfill diversion figures
• Track and report on material recovery outcomes across all container types (PET, aluminium, steel), ensuring recovered materials are genuinely re‑entering the circular economy
• Champion closed‑loop recycling outcomes, monitoring where recovered material goes and what it becomes
• Use material recovery data to identify improvement opportunities and support the scheme's continuous improvement agenda

• Monitor and report on the carbon footprint of the scheme's operational activities
• Work with logistics, infrastructure, and technology partners to identify and drive practical carbon reduction opportunities across the scheme's operational footprint
• Set and track carbon reduction targets for operational activities, reporting progress regularly and escalating where targets are at risk
• Embed carbon impact considerations into procurement and partner selection decisions, working with relevant colleagues to establish sustainability criteria in contracts and supplier frameworks

• Act as the scheme's internal champion for circular economy principles, ensuring that decisions across operations, procurement, and stakeholder engagement are informed by circular economy thinking
• Monitor developments in circular economy policy, regulation, and best practice across the UK and internationally, bringing relevant insight into the scheme's strategy and operations
• Build relationships with reprocessors, material recovery facilities, and circular economy organisations to strengthen the scheme's understanding of end markets and material flows
• Contribute to the development of the scheme's long‑term circular economy strategy, working with the leadership of Exchange For Change

• Translate complex environmental performance…