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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Government response to the consultation on Introducing a Deposit Return Scheme for drinks containers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, published on 20 January 2023, when she plans to publish the deposit return scheme regulations.

In January 2023, UK Government, Welsh Government, and the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs in Northern Ireland published the Government’s response to the 2021 consultation, setting out policy decisions and next steps for introducing the scheme.

We are currently drafting the legislation to enable delivery of DRS, reflecting the positions set out in the consultation response published in January 2023. The legislation then needs to go through the necessary clearances before it can be laid in UK Parliament and the Welsh Senedd. We are aiming to have the regulations in place by summer 2024.