Grundy added she is supportive of the DRS in general and thinks it will help reduce littering.
She was speaking at an event for the “Big Paddle Cleanup”, an annual campaign to reduce water pollution during which volunteers clear rubbish from their local rivers and canals.
“As we look at what’s in this sack, it is literally all those things that the deposit return scheme will include,” she said. “The biggest contributor here this afternoon is single-use plastic bottles.”
Marathon kayak athlete Freya Peters trains on waterways in Nottingham up to twice a day.
“Sometimes we see wildlife entangled in plastic waste. When I’m paddling I see plastic bottles, plastic bags, sometimes much larger items,” she said.
“It can be really upsetting and often for me the first question is – why is that there?”
In three hours, Paddle UK staff and volunteers removed 20 sacks of rubbish from the water, along with “surprises” such as a grit bin, polystyrene slabs, a fire extinguisher and road signs.