Asked by: Lord Mawson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the system of plastic bottle recycling used in Norway.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
As the Minister responsible for this policy area, in late 2017 Dr Thérèse Coffey visited Norway to find out more about the deposit return scheme (DRS) in operation there. This includes polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic drinks containers within the scope of collection for recycling.
Minister Coffey met representatives of Infinitum AS (the DRS operator and administrator) and TOMRA (a manufacturer of reverse vending machines which accept plastic bottles returned by consumers). The Minister also tested reverse vending machines in a supermarket.
The Government has confirmed that it will introduce a DRS in England, subject to consultation later this year. This visit has informed the development of the consultation.
Asked by: Lord Mawson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what practical role they have played in the Clean for the Queen initiative.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The Clean for the Queen campaign, organised by Country Life and Keep Britain Tidy, was the biggest community-led clean-up the country has ever seen. Keep Britain Tidy distributed 200,000 bags to collect litter; more than 1,500 Costa, McDonald’s, Greggs and KFC stores took part; events were held as far north as Isle of Lewis and as far south as Jersey and Guernsey; and more than 100,000 volunteers took part. We hope the campaign will help lead to a lasting legacy of a cleaner, tidier Britain.
Defra supported the initiative with a grant of £9,500 towards providing resource packs to help support and encourage schools to participate in the campaign, and to support monitoring and evaluation of the impacts and effectiveness of the campaign. The Department for Communities and Local Government also spent £5,000 on promoting the initiative through Facebook. Having ownership of social media ensured the Department was able to engage with the public effectively, and be proactive and responsive when necessary in its social communications.
In the lead-up to the initiative, Ministers from Defra and the Department for Communities and Local Government wrote to every Member of Parliament with an English constituency and every English unitary and district local authority, to encourage their participation and leadership in this worthwhile campaign.
Ministers from both Departments took part in litter pick events in London and Nuneaton. Staff from both Departments also took part in a joint litter pick in Westminster.