Draft Environmental Protection (Microbeads) (England) Regulations 2017

Lord Coaker Excerpts

Monday 18th December 2017 General Committees

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Dr Thérèse Coffey)]

I beg to move,

That the Committee has considered the draft Environmental Protection (Microbeads) (England) Regulations 2017.

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Austin. We will be debating legislation to tackle microbeads in the use of rinse-off personal care products. “Blue Planet II” has shone a spotlight on our seas, and it is clear that they are in danger from many issues, including plastic waste. Plastic has become integral to our modern-day lifestyles, but millions of tonnes of plastic enter the global ocean every year, which is why we must take greater care and action to reduce if not eliminate pollution of our marine environment.

The draft regulations will ban the manufacture and sale of rinse-off personal care products containing plastic microbeads. Significantly, the ban is twofold. First, it will ensure that products containing microbeads may no longer be produced in England. Secondly, it will ensure that such products may not be sold or exported from the country. That will reduce the unnecessary release of plastic into the marine environment and lessen the harm to marine organisms caused by that form of microplastic. The ban has been worked on in conjunction with the devolved Administrations, and they too will introduce similar bans on manufacture and sale, likely in July.

Microbeads are small plastic particles. For the purposes of the draft regulations, “microbead” means

“any water-insoluble solid plastic particle of less than or equal to 5 mm in any dimension”.

Microbeads are added to many personal care products for their exfoliating effect. It has been suggested that one shower alone can send 100,000 microbeads into the water system and, subsequently, into our seas and the marine animals that live there. Personal care products containing microbeads are calculated to add 35,000 tonnes of plastic a year to the marine environment. Once released, those microbeads are impossible to recover.

[Vernon Coaker (Gedling) (Lab)]

The impact assessment talks about “other products”, which will not be covered by the regulations. Will the Minister tell us, now or later in her remarks, what the other products containing microbeads that will not be covered by the regulations are?

[Dr Coffey]

I shall certainly endeavour to do so. I have at least one example, and I am sure the hon. Gentleman will prompt me again if I do not cover the extent of the regulations.

It is extraordinarily difficult to directly measure the effect of microbeads per se on the marine environment. However, as microbeads are a form of microplastic, evidence concerning microplastics can be used to inform our view of the environmental impacts of microbeads. It is thought that ingestion of microplastics by some marine organisms can reduce digestion of food, affect reproduction adversely and be passed along marine food chains. Evidence indicates that chemical pollutants can leach from and attach to microplastics, risking increased exposure to toxins when ingested by marine organisms.

I want to recognise the efforts that the industry has made to address the problem of microbeads. A number of manufacturers and retailers have already stopped using microbeads in their products or have committed to do so. We want to ensure, however, that all companies follow that approach. The draft regulations will also create a level playing field for industry and certainty for consumers. Natural alternatives to microbeads do exist. They are readily available and, indeed, were used successfully in personal care products before plastic microbeads were introduced.

We considered whether the ban should extend to other products, including leave-on toiletries and cleaning products. Our initial assessment is that leave-on toiletries tend to be wiped off and the material discarded via normal waste streams, but we have asked the Hazardous Substances Advisory Committee to review the evidence on that. As for cleaning products, the trade bodies have shown that no such products for sale in this country include microbeads. Some countries have opted to ban only those plastic particles added for exfoliating and cleansing purposes, but our objective is to minimise marine microplastic pollution. Therefore, our ban covers all microplastic particles in those rinse-off cosmetics and personal care products. That is what makes it one of the toughest bans in the world.

The approach we have taken is based on clear evidence and, as a result, has support from a wide range of stakeholders. Only by working together can we be the first generation ever to leave the environment in a better state than we inherited it. I would like to think that that approach is another strong example of the proud and continuing leadership role that the United Kingdom has played in protecting the marine environment, not just around our coastline but throughout the world, including our overseas territories. With this legislation we will deliver one of the strongest bans—if not the strongest—on microbeads in the world. I commend the draft regulations to the Committee.

--- Later in debate ---

[Vernon Coaker]

The hon. Member for North East Hampshire is absolutely right to say that the Committee is unanimous in welcoming these regulations, but clearly we are all impatient. We all want more to be done yesterday. Nobody is being churlish about welcoming these regulations, but it is incumbent on the Committee to challenge the Government to do even more. With that in mind, I welcome the action the Government are taking and their attempts to make progress.

The various notes about the regulations mention protecting the environment, and people have talked about “Blue Planet II” and so on, but this is not about protecting the environment; it is about saving the environment. We are at a crossroads as a country and globally, and we have to make some clear decisions. Unlike the hon. Gentleman, I have not watched the last episode of “Blue Planet II”, which deals with some of the major environmental consequences. One can watch it and feel that the situation is absolutely terrible and unbelievable and that we have to do something about it, but that is not enough. We are all shocked and horrified, which is why it is good that the Government have introduced these regulations.

The Minister was right, as was my hon. Friend the Member for Halifax, about encouraging consumer confidence. Consumers can make a huge difference, but they need information, so labelling is important, as it is in many areas, in enabling people to make particular choices when they go into a shop.

The Minister talked about our setting an example to other countries, which is absolutely right. Will she say a little more about how we intend to do that? We can do it through the various international bodies we belong to, notwithstanding Brexit. We can do it through the United Nations. However, the Government need a plan for how they intend to set the example. The regulations apply to England. I understand the devolved nature of these matters but if we are talking about a UK-wide approach, will the Minister explain how our actions relate to those being taken by Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland?

I want to say something to the hon. Member for North East Hampshire: is it not disappointing that, given the outrage in this country and the way in which everybody speaks about the need to protect the environment, not every single major cosmetic company has already taken voluntary action? That is not only disappointing; it is absolutely incredible. There are major cosmetic companies on the list. There is no secret about which have signed and which have not, because the information is on the impact assessment. It is brilliant that 70% have done so, but why not the other 28% or 30%? It is astonishing. The managing directors and shareholders will have stood up at their board meetings and talked about their social conscience and the need for companies to reflect on their social responsibilities. I bet many of them have watched “Blue Planet”, but that is not enough. That is why I welcome the regulations: they say to the small number of companies—just over a quarter of them—that have not voluntarily moved that we are going to legislate.

I hope this resonates loud and clear: it is not good enough in 2017—nearly 2018—for major companies that make large sums of money to ignore their social responsibilities when it comes to something that every single person in this country demands that we do more about. The Minister should name those companies—I will not do it, unless she wants me to do so—that are listed in the public information available to the Committee in the impact assessment. Big companies have not acted and they should be held to account.

[Catherine West (Hornsey and Wood Green) (Lab)]

Does my hon. Friend agree that ordinary citizens feel a real sense of urgency when they watch those programmes and become educated about the environment? However, there is a real lack of ambition in the extent of this proposal and in the industry’s willingness to match how passionately people feel about this.

[Vernon Coaker]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right, and that was the major contribution I wanted to make. We can talk about that passion for reform and say that it is a good thing. The 70% of the major cosmetics companies that have already taken action should be complimented and held up as examples of what can be done. They obviously have to make a profit and do all the things we expect in the market economy we live in. However, as I say—I cannot labour this point enough—big companies have a social responsibility. It is good that the Government are bringing the regulations forward, but in a sense it is not only disappointing but makes one deeply ashamed of some of the ways in which people operate. They watch these environmental programmes, see animals tangled up or being poisoned and feel as affected by it as we all are, yet they take decisions in those companies that fail to recognise those consequences.

I will make a couple of other points, which were also raised by my hon. Friend the Member for Halifax. Will the Minister say a little more about the plastic microbeads not included in the scope of the regulations? Will she also say a little more about the further work that will be done by the Hazardous Substances Advisory Committee to see what action can be taken on other categories of products that might contain microbeads? I think all of us want to see that done as quickly as possible.

As the Minister will know, the impact assessment talks of 680 tonnes of microbeads used each year in the UK. If each microbead is less than 0.5 mm in size, goodness only knows how many microbeads must be needed to make 680 tonnes; I do not even know how they would measure that. Anyway, it must be an incomprehensible number, and that is just for usage in the UK each year. Has the Minister made any assessment of how much the regulations before the Committee will reduce that 680 tonnes? I am one for concrete examples, and it would be interesting, if that amount has somehow been measured as 680 tonnes, to know whether there is a scientific estimate of what the reduction in that amount will be.

As I understand it, some major retailers have said that they will not sell their own brands from now on. In the time between now and when the regulations come into effect, will they still be able to sell brands other than those they have manufactured? In other words, can they stop selling their own brands but sell products made by somebody else?

I see it will be 21 days from when the regulations are made before many of them come into effect, and 60 days for the other bits. Will the Minister say a little more about how quickly, after the regulations come into force, we can expect trading standards to actually use the powers and take action against people who might not be adhering to the legislation? In other words, it is clearly 21 days—or 60 days for some—until the regulations come into force. How long does the Minister think the transition phase will be, between day one when the regulations come into force and every single one of those other 28% of companies complying with the legislation and not selling products containing microbeads?

The regulations make one think about the consequences for human health if sea creatures are eating these things. That point is beyond the scope of the regulations, but it is worth making. I will finish where I started. I hope that my remarks are in no way seen as my saying that the regulations are not important, because they really are. As my hon. Friend the Member for Halifax said, the Opposition support the regulations; I and other Committee members clearly support what the Government are doing on this, and there is clearly more work to be done on what is not included in the regulations.

The Government and Parliament need to use the regulations as an example of the sort of legislation that Parliament will pass if industry and others fail to put their own house in order. It should act as a wake-up call. It is not good enough to be horrified; people need to act. They need to act now.

--- Later in debate ---

[Dr Coffey]

No. That is another example of products that have become part of everyday life. However, when they go through a washing machine, microfibres and microplastics are released. The regulations also extend to things such as tyres, because in tyre wear we see microplastics generated, washed on to the road, then into our water courses and so on. It is a challenge across a wide range of products. In particular, we focused on this because we know the evidence is already there. We know that our existing sewage treatments cover particles from about 6 mm upwards, so this is a specific way to try to address the problem by stopping at source the very generation of microbeads in products that are widely used. We wanted to tackle that.

If the hon. Member for Halifax has evidence that cleaning products with microbeads are available, she should please let me know and we can look at that. So far, the evidence we have seen is that no such cleaning products are available for sale. We need to ensure that, dare I say it, we regulate to address the problem in hand and not just create regulations for their own sake.

With regard to the devolved nations, yes, the consultation was UK-wide between the four Governments. We cannot dictate the processes by which they bring the ban into effect, but we are working with them to try to ensure that we coincide the ban that will come in due course.

As the hon. Member for Gedling knows, the 21 days will kick in from when the regulations are voted through the House—I think they have gone through the House of Lords today. Then, in essence, manufacture will become an offence, and then sale will become an offence. I suggest to the Committee that it will become more difficult for people to buy such products for resale in their shops. Of course, today the products are legal, so people can choose to sell them but, as we have seen, many companies have already taken action.

I point out that the regulations also cover the import of products, so if they are imported they still cannot be sold—that deals with that challenge. In terms of international actions, it might surprise the Committee to know that we had to get permission from the European Union and the World Trade Organisation. We initiated that on 28 July. We had to have a three-month process for objections, and there were none. We also have to go through other regulatory processes where we make the case, which is one of the reasons it takes so long. I think it was my hon. Friend the Member for Camborne and Redruth (George Eustice) who brought the issue to the attention of the Environmental Audit Committee when giving evidence some time ago. Members are right to pay tribute to that Committee, but that is an explanation of why it takes quite so long to reach the point we have got to today.

I do not think the regulations are necessarily the end of the process. I am sure that the Committee will want to be assured that we are taking appropriate action. We are addressing wider issues of microplastics getting into the environment. We need to continue to work with industry to ensure that it has time to develop alternatives.

The 680 tonnes is the amount used in cosmetics, and we recognise that not all of it ends up in the marine environment. I would not want to throw out a figure just to satisfy the hon. Member for Gedling. The point is that we are removing these microbeads at source so that there is at least a reduction from what we have today.

[Vernon Coaker]

Will the Minister give way?

[Dr Coffey]

I think I have covered all the questions that I have been asked so far, and I recognise that the hon. Gentleman did not want to be churlish. We are going to press on and try to pass the regulations today, and I hope that they will then go through the House.

We have considered the regulations at considerable length. They are a good step and they are the toughest ban announced in the world so far, to the best of my knowledge. Enforcement will be down to local councils, but we believe clearly and strongly that manufacturers will know that it is an offence to create microbeads. Individual large stores and our wholesalers, from which smaller stores often buy their products, will also know that it is an offence to sell these products. I am confident that the supply chain for these products will collapse. I commend the regulations to the Committee.

Question put and agreed to.

Resolved,

That the Committee has considered the draft Environmental Protection (Microbeads) (England) Regulations 2017.