Bottles: Plastics

(asked on 11th November 2025) - View Source

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 is taking to ensure that (a) all plastic bottles sold in the UK are fully recyclable and (b) 100 per cent of such bottles are recycled by 2030.


Answered by
Mary Creagh Portrait
Mary Creagh
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This question was answered on 19th November 2025

The Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) is coming to England, Northern Ireland, and Scotland in October 2027 and will focus on increasing recycling and reducing littering.

A new organisation called UK Deposit Management Organisation Ltd (UK DMO) will run the scheme. It’s a not-for-profit group, led by businesses. They were officially appointed in May 2025 (England & NI) and June 2025 (Scotland).

Once the DRS is introduced, the Deposit Management Organisation will be required to reach a return rate of 90% in year 3 of the scheme.

International DRSs have seen recycling rates increase to over 95%.

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