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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate his Department has made of the proposed annual reduction of plastic waste that may result from the introduction of a deposit return scheme for plastic bottles.

An impact assessment was published alongside our second consultation on introducing a deposit return scheme (DRS) for drinks containers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Our research in the assessment suggested that for an All-in DRS (which includes all sizes of drinks containers up to 3l) with an 85% return rate of in-scope containers, there would be an annual reduction of 34,493 tonnes of plastic waste in 2024 increasing to 58,007 tonnes by 2033.

Our recent consultation set out options for the scope of DRS including size of drinks containers that could be included. The amount of reduction in plastic waste will of course vary depending on the precise scope of a DRS and potential return rates, which will be reflected in our government response and final impact assessment.