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

To ask His Majesty's Government when they expect to publish a response to their 2021 deposit return scheme consultation; and why that response was not published in early 2022 as planned.

We want to ensure we have an ambitious yet realistic timeframe for delivery of the scheme and sought views on what a feasible implementation timeline looked like in the 2021 consultation. Further details on when a DRS will be introduced will be in the government response to that consultation, which will be published early in the New Year. DRS presents a number of complex policy, delivery and design decisions which required additional time in 2022 to work through before we could finalise our response. Waste is a devolved policy area, and we are working closely with the devolved administrations and industry to support the successful delivery of the scheme across the UK, including mitigating the impacts that arise from differences in scheme implementation.