Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if her Department will provide local authorities with funding from the Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging scheme to tackle ground litter.

This Government remains committed to tackling litter. However, payments to Local Authorities for tackling ground litter are currently outside the scope of the packaging Extended Producer Responsibility (pEPR) regulations.

The deposit return scheme (DRS) for drinks containers will have an impact on single-use packaging waste and commonly littered items. Plastic bottles and cans account for 55% of litter volume and DRS is expected to significantly reduce the number of items littered. The scheme is due to rollout in October 2027. We will review payments for binned and littered waste when the impact of DRS is evaluated.