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Written Question
Plastics: Packaging
Friday 5th July 2019

Asked by: Mhairi Black (Scottish National Party - Paisley and Renfrewshire South)

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 the use of single use plastic in packaging.

Answered by Thérèse Coffey

Last year the Government published the Resources and Waste Strategy, setting out our plans to reduce, reuse and recycle more plastic than we do now. Our target is to eliminate all avoidable plastic waste throughout the life of the 25 Year Environment Plan, but for the most problematic plastics we are going faster - that is why we have committed to work towards all plastic packaging placed on the UK market being recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2025.

The Government recently consulted on reforms to the packaging producer responsibility system to ensure that packaging producers fund the full net cost of managing the packaging they place on the market once it becomes waste. This provides a strong financial incentive for packaging producers to make better, more sustainable decisions at the design stage and during manufacture, and to take greater responsibility for the environmental impacts of their products.

Furthermore, in April last year, the Waste and Resources Action Programme and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation launched their world leading UK Plastics Pact, with support from the Government, and all the major supermarkets have signed up to it. The Pact brings these organisations together with four key targets for 2025 that aim to reduce the amount of plastic waste generated. This includes action to eliminate problematic or unnecessary single use plastic packaging items. Our proposed reforms will support supermarkets in achieving those targets.