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 relevant (a) Welsh, (b) Scottish and (c) Northern Irish counterparts on the potential merits of aligning the scope of deposit return schemes in those nations.

In May 2023, UK Government published a position statement setting out that DRS’s across the UK should be interoperable to reduce complexity for businesses and consumers, and to avoid unnecessary barriers to trade. Defra is working closely with devolved administrations at pace on the next steps to deliver interoperable schemes across the UK.