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 tackle (a) plastic litter and (b) other litter on UK roads.

In the 2017 Litter Strategy, the Government set out a number of commitments to tackle litter, including that on our roads, through education, improved infrastructure and better enforcement.

Since publishing the Strategy we have given councils new powers to hold the keeper of a vehicle responsible for litter thrown from it by issuing a civil penalty. We have also carried out a pilot survey of roadside cleanliness on those parts of the Strategic Road Network (SRN) which are litter-picked by local authorities and engaged over 100 of those authorities in research to explore associated issues, challenges and good practice. We expect to publish a report on our findings later this year.

On those roads where Highways England are responsible for clearing litter, we have introduced a litter performance indicator (PI). Litter on these roads will be reported annually from the end of the 2020/21 financial year and will be published in Highways England’s Delivery Plan Update this summer. The PI measures what percentage of these roads are predominantly free of litter, or Grade B, in line with the Code

We are taking steps to address packaging litter both at roadsides and elsewhere. Our recently published consultation on extended producer responsibility for packaging proposes that producers of commonly littered packaging items be made responsible for the costs that are directly attributable to their management, for both binned and ground litter. We also expect the introduction of a deposit return scheme for drinks containers to incentivise proper disposal, and we are currently consulting on these proposals.