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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to improve England’s waste disposal system; and if he will make a statement.

Our overarching ambition is to manage residual waste in a way that maximises its value as a resource whilst minimising its environmental impact. We are committed to eliminating avoidable waste by 2050.

In December 2018, we published our Resources and Waste Strategy which explains how we will overhaul current waste management systems. Building on the commitments in the Strategy, we have published three consultations:

- On making producers pay the full cost of dealing with packaging waste (Reforming the Packaging Producer Responsibility System)

- On a consistent set of materials to be collected across England from households and businesses for recycling (Consultation on consistency in household and business recycling collections in England)

- On bringing in a deposit return scheme (DRS) for drinks cans and bottles (Consultation on Introducing a DRS in England, Wales and Northern Ireland).

These consultations are open until 13 May.