Disposable and Reusable Nappies

Lord Watts Excerpts

Wednesday 28th June 2023 Lords Chamber

[Lord Benyon (Con)]

The noble Lord will not be surprised that I do not know that figure. I know that the impact of carbon on the environment has dropped considerably since the last life cycle assessment in 2008. That is welcome and we want to see more of it, but we also want to make sure that all our policies on plastics are feeding through to this area of waste management, and that we are tackling the issue of where the products come from, which is entirely right.

[Lord Watts (Lab)]

My Lords, can the Minister say how much we have spent on the wet wipes survey? It seems a complete waste of time. I would like to know how much money his department has spent on this useless exercise.

[Lord Benyon (Con)]

I cannot tell the noble Lord how much we have spent, but if he is criticising my department for asking the people who use these products, those who manufacture them and those who are seeking to create alternative ones that are more environmentally friendly, I do not accept that. It is important that we engage. I do not think we should consult on everything all the time, and sometimes we are rightly criticised for doing too much consultation, but we want to get this right.