Campaign reply - Where is the Deposit Return Scheme?

Thank you for contacting my office. I very much appreciate you getting in touch about a bottle deposit return system.

The Resources and Waste Strategy sets out the Government’s plans to reduce, reuse, and recycle more than we do now, including plans to help stimulate investment in UK reprocessing capacity. I know the Government’s target is to eliminate all avoidable plastic waste throughout the life of the 25 Year Environment Plan.  It is absolutely vital we act now to curb the millions of plastic bottles a day that go unrecycled. 

I welcome that the Environment Act 2021 includes new powers to introduce a Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) for drinks containers. This will recycle billions more plastic bottles and stop them being landfilled or littered. I believe that this will help to change consumer behaviours with potential knock-on effects to other environmental activities.

I know that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs held a consultation on the introduction of a DRS for drinks containers last year, and that the Government will soon respond to this consultation. I want to see an ambitious but realistic timetable to ensure a deposit return system is implemented that will be as effective as possible. Ministers have reviewed the timelines required to implement a deposit return system and anticipate the scheme will be launched in 2024.

More widely, I am encouraged that ministers plan to introduce Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging that will make manufacturers responsible for the full net cost of recycling their packaging waste, as well as make recycling more consistent for households and businesses in England.

I am encouraged by the action taken to reduce plastic waste. The Government introduced ones of the world’s toughest bans on microbeads in rinse-off personal care products and brought in measures to ban plastic straws, stirrers and cotton buds. I welcome that the use of single-use carrier bags has reduced by 95 per cent since the introduction of the 5p charge. To build on this success, ministers increased the charge to 10p and extended it to all retailers in May 2021.

Thank you once again for getting in touch, and if I can be of further assistance with any other matter, please do not hesitate to contact me.