Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will include glass in the deposit return scheme; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Jo Churchill
The full response to our consultation on a Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) will be published in due course.
However, as part of our response to the consultation on Extended Producer Responsibility, we announced any DRS in England and Northern Ireland would not include glass.
Concerns were raised that including glass in a DRS risked reducing the amount of glass available to remelt, whilst making reverse vending machines larger and more complicated, as well as causing extra risk to both shop staff and consumers.
Glass will be subject to regulation via Extended Producer Responsibility and continue to be recycled at the kerbside.