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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what fiscal measures her Department has considered to promote domestic recycling in (a) Staffordshire and (b) England.

The provision of funding to Local Authorities to support timely and effective implementation of Simpler Recycling will increase recycling rates by ensuring the same materials can be recycled at home, at work or on the go. We have already provided over £340 million in transitional funding to LAs for weekly food waste collections, and from 2026 onwards, the Local Government Finance Settlement will include funding for local authorities to deliver Simpler Recycling as part of the Collection and Packaging waste reforms.

Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging (pEPR) provides funding to Local Authorities across the UK of c. £1.4 billion per annum and will incentivise a more efficient and effective services and higher rates of recycling.

The PRN system (Packaging Waste Recycling Note), used by producers to meet legal recycling obligations, provides a mechanism to drive investment by providing revenue to recyclers. My officials are currently considering options to incentivise domestic recycling over export through reforms to the PRN system.