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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the planned implementation of (a) a deposit return scheme, (b) an extended producer responsibility scheme and (c) other changes to packaging recovery notes on food and drink businesses.

Defra has published regulatory impact assessments of the impact of the Collection and Packaging Reforms, including the impact on business and consumers.

For the DRS, the 2021 consultation stage impact assessment can be found at: https://consult.defra.gov.uk/environment/consultation-on-introducing-a-drs/supporting_documents/Impact%20Assessment.pdf. A final impact assessment will be published alongside the regulations.

For Packaging Extended Producer Responsibility, the most recent assessment can be found in the 2022 final stage impact assessment: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1063588/epr-final-impact-assessment.pdf. An updated impact assessment will be published alongside the regulations.