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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate his Department has made of the cost to local authorities of the collection and disposal of packaging waste.

In support of our forthcoming consultation on reforming the packaging producer responsibility system, we have prepared an early-stage impact assessment. This impact assessment assesses the costs to local authorities of collection and treatment of packaging waste. It will be published shortly, alongside the consultation. However, the National Audit Office published a report in 2018 stating that English local authorities spent an estimated £700 million in 2017 on collecting and treating packaging waste.