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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with his counterparts in (a) Denmark, (b) Sweden and (c) Germany on deposit return schemes for single use drinks containers.

The Minister responsible for this policy area, Minister Coffey, visited Norway, Sweden and Denmark late last year to find out more about the deposit return schemes (DRS) in those countries, including meeting the then Danish Minister for Environment and Food to discuss the Danish DRS.

The Secretary of State has not had any specific discussions on DRS with his counterparts in Denmark, Sweden or Germany