What discussions has the Minister had with UK Government Ministers on UK-wide deposit return schemes?
I met Ministers from Defra, the Scottish Government and the Northern Ireland Executive on 5 July 2018 to discuss our respective approaches to a Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) for drinks containers, including the merits of developing a UK-wide scheme.
This led to the joint consultation with the UK Government and the Northern Ireland Executive on the merits of introducing a DRS in England, Wales and Northern Ireland in 2019.
Following the positive response to the consultation, with over 208,000 responses, we are continuing to work with the UK Government and Northern Ireland Executive on DRS.
This includes work that has been undertaken to bring forward the powers that will allow Welsh Ministers to enact regulations to bring in a DRS. This has been included in the UK Environment Bill, which is currently being considered by the UK Parliament.