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 merits of including glass bottles in the Deposit Return Scheme.

The Government has consulted twice on the introduction of a Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) and given careful consideration to the inclusion of glass bottles as part of the scheme. Feedback from stakeholders including representatives of the glass industry, raised concerns including glass in a DRS could reduce recycling, reduce the products that can be made from recycled glass and increase overall carbon emissions. A full response to the consultation will be published in due course.