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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department taking to ensure that the Deposit Management Organisation can operate effectively in the context of the Welsh government’s decision to proceed with a scheme that includes glass.

The regulations allow the Deposit Management Organisation(s) for England and Northern Ireland to work in an interoperable way with any other deposit return schemes.

We previously published agreed interoperability requirements which would ensure that schemes can operate as one, including commitments to single registration and reporting, processes for reciprocal takeback of material, single logos and the same deposit level. These requirements currently apply for England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Officials are working closely with the Welsh Government as they develop their regulations to ensure interoperability between the schemes where possible.