Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much food waste was generated by UK households by (a) tonnage and (b) amount of greenhouse gas emission in each year since 2010.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Periodic estimates of UK household food waste levels are undertaken by the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) with government funding:
The next estimate reporting year is 2022/23.
WRAP have not estimated the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with only household food waste. They have estimated that food waste from manufacturing, retail, hospitality and food service and households together in 2018 was associated with approximately 36 million tonnes of GHG emissions each year.
Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what quantity of waste was exported by the UK in each of the last five years; and what the cost was of exporting that waste.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The total volume and value of waste exported from the UK in the past five years for which there is currently complete data[1] is presented in the table below. Defra does not hold information on the costs associated with exporting waste.
The vast majority of waste exported from the UK is sent for recycling or energy recovery. Exports of waste from the UK for disposal are generally prohibited, apart from in exceptional circumstances where the UK does not have the specialist disposal facilities needed.
UK Waste Exports (tonnes)
Year | Exports for recycling (HMRC trade data) | RDF/SRF[2] exports (Basel Convention National Reporting) | Exports for disposal (Basel Convention National Reporting) | Total quantity (tonnes) | Value (£) |
2019 | 11,373,916 | 2,490,693 | 3,609 | 13,868,218 | 5,995,868,342 |
2018 | 15,843,470 | 3,365,815 | 4,281 | 19,213,566 | 6,417,928,617 |
2017 | 16,431,888 | 3,470,729 | 2,117 | 19,904,734 | 6,336,497,335 |
2016 | 16,265,212 | 3,543,692 | 9,446 | 19,818,350 | 5,135,146,164 |
2015 | 15,294,976 | 3,354,858 | 4,260 | 18,654,094 | 4,732,206,009 |
Sources: HMRC trade data and Basel Convention National Reporting
[1] Defra does not have complete data on UK waste exports for 2020 as the Basel Convention National Report is collated at the end of each year for the previous calendar year.
[2] Refuse Derived Fuel / Solid Recovered Fuel
Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to reduce plastic waste.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government's 25 Year Environment Plan sets out our ambition to eliminate all avoidable plastic waste. We are making great strides to tackle plastic pollution across the country. In December 2018 we published the Resources and Waste Strategy, which sets out how we want to achieve this and move towards a circular economy and keep resources in the system for as long as possible.
In October 2020, we introduced measures to restrict the supply of plastic straws, plastic drink stirrers, and plastic-stemmed cotton buds. The single-use carrier bag charge, which has led to a 95% reduction in the use of single-use carrier bags by the main supermarkets, has been increased to 10p and extended to all retailers to encourage customers to bring their own bags to carry shopping and reduce the volumes of single-use plastic being used.
We are also currently in the process of preparing a public consultation on banning single-use plastic plates, cutlery, balloon sticks and expanded polystyrene food and drinks containers, and we will continue to review the latest evidence on problematic products and/ or materials to take a systematic approach to reducing the use of unnecessary single-use plastic products. Moreover, at Budget 2020 the Chancellor announced the tax on plastic packaging of £200 per tonne for plastic packaging with less than 30% recycled content, effective from April 2022.
Our Environment Bill will enable us to significantly change the way that we manage our waste and take forward a number of the proposals from the Resources and Waste Strategy. The Bill will include powers to create Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes; introduce Deposit Return Schemes (DRS); establish greater consistency in the recycling system; better control the export of plastic waste; and give us the power to set new charges for other single-use plastic items. Our consultations on an EPR scheme for packaging and a DRS for drinks containers closed on 4 June and our consultation on our proposals for consistency in the recycling system in England closed on 4 July. More details can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/environment/waste-and-recycling.
The Government has put together a package of nearly £100 million for research and innovation to tackle the issues that arise from plastic waste. £38 million was set aside through the Plastics Research and Innovation Fund, the last funding competition of which opened in June 2020. The Resource Action Fund included £10 million specifically to pioneer innovative approaches to boosting recycling and reducing litter. The Government has also announced £60 million of funding through the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund, alongside a £150 million investment from industry, towards the development of smart, sustainable plastic packaging (SSPP), which will aim to make the UK a world leader in sustainable packaging for consumer products. Two SSPP funding opportunities have been open for bids in 2021: the SSPP Demonstrator Round 2 and the SSPP business-led research and development competition.
Science estimates that the annual plastic flow into the ocean will triple between 2016 and 2040. Due to the scale of the marine litter challenge the UK believes it is time to start negotiating a new global agreement on marine plastic litter and microplastics at the United Nations Environment Assembly. A new global agreement would build upon the important work we are doing to tackle marine litter both domestically and internationally and support our commitments to eliminate plastic entering the ocean.
Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the incineration of waste on the Government’s climate objectives.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Incineration of fossil derived waste is a contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. Total greenhouse gas emissions from waste incineration accounted for around 1.4% (6.47 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent) of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions in 2019. Of this, about 6.19 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent was emitted from Energy from Waste plants. It is clear that we will need to reduce that impact. That is why the Government continues to take action, including through our Environment Bill measures, to reduce, re-use and recycle more of our waste and to move to a circular economy.
In assessing the effect of waste incineration on meeting climate objectives and deciding on what further action is needed, the Government is considering the recommendations of the independent Climate Change Committee. Defra is also seeking to strengthen its own evidence base around the environmental impacts of managing residual waste including incineration of municipal waste. This information will be taken into account in the Government’s assessment of the future infrastructure needed for treating residual waste, to be published over coming months, and will inform direction setting to meet our climate goals.
Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the proportion of the UK Fishing Quota that is used by companies headquartered (a) in the UK, (b) in the EU and (c) elsewhere in the world.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
UK quota is only allocated to vessels registered and licensed in the UK. This is predominantly done using Fixed Quota Allocation (FQA) units.
The FQA register contains a publicly available list of the companies and individuals who hold these FQA units. This is available on the GOV.UK website.
No assessment has been carried out regarding where these companies are headquartered.
Regardless of where their headquarters are located, all vessels to which UK quota is allocated must comply with all UK fisheries rules including the economic link condition.
The economic link ensures that the UK accrues benefit from UK quota. It requires all UK-registered vessels, including those that are foreign owned, to provide genuine economic benefits to those communities in the UK that are dependent on fisheries and fisheries related industries.
Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent estimate he has made of the number of hours spent by supertrawlers in protected areas of UK waters in each of the last five years.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The information requested is not held centrally and to obtain it would incur disproportionate costs.
Our Fisheries Bill prohibits any commercial fishing vessel from operating in UK waters without a licence. It also provides powers to attach conditions (such as the areas that can be fished, species that can be caught and the type of fishing gear that can be used) to fishing vessel licences. Foreign vessels operating in UK waters will have to follow UK rules, including the conditions that are attached to their commercial fishing licence.
Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether it is Government policy to bring forward legislative proposals on animal sentience; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The Government is committed to further strengthening our world-leading animal welfare standards. We have committed to bringing in new laws on animal sentience. Any necessary changes required to domestic legislation will be made in an effective and credible way and will be brought forward when parliamentary time allows.
Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of mandating Departments to undertake animal welfare impact assessments on policy that potentially affects sentient species.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government has committed to bringing in new laws on animal sentience. Any necessary changes required to domestic legislation will be made in a rigorous and comprehensive way after the transition period and will be brought forward when Parliamentary time allows. Defra is currently assessing how best to support Government departments in considering the welfare needs of sentient animals when they are developing and implementing Government policy.
Defra engages with a wide range of stakeholders on a number of animal welfare issues, including animal sentience.
Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of halting future farm payments to farms which operate caged systems.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government will build upon our world-leading animal welfare standards now that we have left the EU. We will do this in part by developing publicly funded schemes for English farmers to provide animal welfare enhancements beyond the regulatory baseline – ones that are valued by the public and not sufficiently provided by the market.
We are currently considering different forms of scheme design. This could include a capital grants scheme for investments that are known to raise welfare and would help farmers move beyond our already world-class baseline standards. It could also include a payment-by-results scheme that makes ongoing payments for demonstrable and evidence-based welfare increases. These could relate to improving animal welfare in relation to confinement (e.g. the use of cages and crates), to the provision of enrichments, to mutilations (e.g. beak trimming and tail docking), and to animals’ ability to exhibit natural behaviours (including behaviours in their right settings).
Animal welfare enhancements will be evidence based, clearly defined, measurable, have positive impacts on animal health and welfare. We will work with industry, retailers and welfare groups and the Animal Welfare Committee as we continue to develop these proposals.
Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing a legal target to end deforestation by (a) 2025 and (b) 2020 within supply chains for commodities included in the 2015 Amsterdam declaration on deforestation; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra has examined the possibility of setting a target aimed at ending deforestation in the UK’s commodity supply chains. Setting a target in law, whether it is aimed at ending imported deforestation in 2020 or in 2025, requires reliable metrics and an established baseline, as well as a robust understanding of any potential perverse incentives that it could create to ensure that impacts are not simply displaced, for example on to other ecosystems. We are working to develop an evidence base to inform the development of a potential future global footprint target.