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Written Question
Packaging: Waste Disposal
Friday 25th October 2019

Asked by: Nic Dakin (Labour - Scunthorpe)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make it her policy to (a) introduce and (b) enforce of European standards for compostable packaging in the UK.

Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Government recognises that innovation into biodegradable and compostable packaging could help reduce the environmental impacts of packaging if it is disposed of in the right way. However, currently this is often not the case. If biodegradable packaging is put in the domestic waste bin, for example, it is likely to end up in landfill and can break down to release powerful greenhouse gases, such as methane. If biodegradable plastic is mistakenly recycled with other plastics, it has the potential to damage the quality of the new products made from the recycled plastic.

As a consequence of these concerns, the Government published a call for evidence in July 2019 to help consider the development of standards or certification criteria for all bio-based, biodegradable, and compostable plastics to better understand their effects on the environment and our current waste system. As we develop our proposals to reform the packaging producer responsibility system we will consider the role of composting, informed by the outputs of this work.

Building on commitments in the Resources and Waste Strategy we launched a consultation earlier this year on reforming the packaging producer responsibility system, which proposed a mandatory UK-wide labelling system that provides clear information to help people to recycle. Defra officials are exploring how a mandatory labelling scheme can address consumer confusion about what to do with compostable packaging. We will take primary powers in the Environment Bill to enable us to implement a mandatory labelling scheme. The consultation closed on 13 May and the summary of responses and next steps can be found via the below link: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/packaging-waste-changing-the-uk-producer-responsibility-system-for-packaging-waste


Written Question
Packaging: Recycling
Friday 25th October 2019

Asked by: Nic Dakin (Labour - Scunthorpe)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans she has to reform the producer responsibility system for packaging to make composting recognised as a form of recycling.

Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Government recognises that innovation into biodegradable and compostable packaging could help reduce the environmental impacts of packaging if it is disposed of in the right way. However, currently this is often not the case. If biodegradable packaging is put in the domestic waste bin, for example, it is likely to end up in landfill and can break down to release powerful greenhouse gases, such as methane. If biodegradable plastic is mistakenly recycled with other plastics, it has the potential to damage the quality of the new products made from the recycled plastic.

As a consequence of these concerns, the Government published a call for evidence in July 2019 to help consider the development of standards or certification criteria for all bio-based, biodegradable, and compostable plastics to better understand their effects on the environment and our current waste system. As we develop our proposals to reform the packaging producer responsibility system we will consider the role of composting, informed by the outputs of this work.

Building on commitments in the Resources and Waste Strategy we launched a consultation earlier this year on reforming the packaging producer responsibility system, which proposed a mandatory UK-wide labelling system that provides clear information to help people to recycle. Defra officials are exploring how a mandatory labelling scheme can address consumer confusion about what to do with compostable packaging. We will take primary powers in the Environment Bill to enable us to implement a mandatory labelling scheme. The consultation closed on 13 May and the summary of responses and next steps can be found via the below link: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/packaging-waste-changing-the-uk-producer-responsibility-system-for-packaging-waste


Written Question
Packaging: Waste Disposal
Friday 25th October 2019

Asked by: Nic Dakin (Labour - Scunthorpe)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to improve consumer education on using compostable packaging.

Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Government recognises that innovation into biodegradable and compostable packaging could help reduce the environmental impacts of packaging if it is disposed of in the right way. However, currently this is often not the case. If biodegradable packaging is put in the domestic waste bin, for example, it is likely to end up in landfill and can break down to release powerful greenhouse gases, such as methane. If biodegradable plastic is mistakenly recycled with other plastics, it has the potential to damage the quality of the new products made from the recycled plastic.

As a consequence of these concerns, the Government published a call for evidence in July 2019 to help consider the development of standards or certification criteria for all bio-based, biodegradable, and compostable plastics to better understand their effects on the environment and our current waste system. As we develop our proposals to reform the packaging producer responsibility system we will consider the role of composting, informed by the outputs of this work.

Building on commitments in the Resources and Waste Strategy we launched a consultation earlier this year on reforming the packaging producer responsibility system, which proposed a mandatory UK-wide labelling system that provides clear information to help people to recycle. Defra officials are exploring how a mandatory labelling scheme can address consumer confusion about what to do with compostable packaging. We will take primary powers in the Environment Bill to enable us to implement a mandatory labelling scheme. The consultation closed on 13 May and the summary of responses and next steps can be found via the below link: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/packaging-waste-changing-the-uk-producer-responsibility-system-for-packaging-waste


Written Question
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Energy Supply
Friday 25th October 2019

Asked by: Nic Dakin (Labour - Scunthorpe)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Answer of 2 October 2019 to Question 290327 and to the Answer of 1 October 2019 to Question 290324, if she will introduce the same policy as the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and switch to an electricity provider that supplies electricity solely from renewable resources within the next 12 months; and for what reason her Department has not already ensured its electricity is supplied solely from renewable resources.

Answered by George Eustice

In response to PQ290397 Defra Group already procures 88% of the energy used in 2018/19 from renewable sources. In the core Department this rises to 99.9%. The Core Department’s energy policy states it will purchase renewable electricity from the Crown Commercial Services Electricity Frameworks.

The only reason the Core Department utilises non-renewable electricity is where the landlord purchases the electricity for a leased site and then recharges the Core Department.


Written Question
Food: Packaging
Tuesday 22nd October 2019

Asked by: Nic Dakin (Labour - Scunthorpe)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to require that specific packaging items must be compostable; and whether she has any plans to do so.

Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Resources and Waste Strategy analysed the challenges currently facing the recycling industry in this country, setting out how we would tackle these challenges. Building on commitments in the Strategy we launched a consultation earlier this year on reforming the packaging producer responsibility system, as part of that consultation the Government proposed a mandatory UK-wide labelling system that provides clear information to help people to recycle. Following strong support for the proposal from consultation respondents, the Government is minded to take forward a mandatory labelling scheme subject to further analysis and legal considerations. Defra officials are exploring how a mandatory labelling scheme can address consumer confusion about what to do with compostable packaging. The consultation closed on 13 May and the summary of responses and next steps can be found via the below link: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/packaging-waste-changing-the-uk-producer-responsibility-system-for-packaging-waste

The Government recognises that innovation into compostable and biodegradable plastics could help reduce the environmental impacts of plastics if they are disposed of in the right way. However, this is often not the case. If these plastics are put in the domestic waste bin, for example, they are likely to end up in landfill and can break down to release powerful greenhouse gases, such as methane. If mistakenly recycled with other plastics, they have the potential to damage the quality of the new products made from the recycled plastic. Furthermore, concerns persist that plastics which are claimed to be biodegradable, if littered or otherwise released into the environment in an uncontrolled way, may not degrade quickly or at all, and they can only be composted if they meet relevant standards.

As a consequence of these concerns, the Government published a call for evidence in July 2019 to help consider the development of standards or certification criteria for bio-based, biodegradable, and compostable plastics as well as to better understand their effects on the environment and our current waste system. The call for evidence closed on the 14 October 2019 and we are currently analysing the responses received to inform future policy. We currently do not have plans to bring forward legislative proposals on the matter of requiring any form of plastic packaging to be compostable.


Written Question

Question Link

Tuesday 22nd October 2019

Asked by: Nic Dakin (Labour - Scunthorpe)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of introducing a mandatory and consistent (a) UK-wide logo and (b) on pack information for compostable food packaging; and what plans her Department has to introduce such a policy.

Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Resources and Waste Strategy analysed the challenges currently facing the recycling industry in this country, setting out how we would tackle these challenges. Building on commitments in the Strategy we launched a consultation earlier this year on reforming the packaging producer responsibility system, as part of that consultation the Government proposed a mandatory UK-wide labelling system that provides clear information to help people to recycle. Following strong support for the proposal from consultation respondents, the Government is minded to take forward a mandatory labelling scheme subject to further analysis and legal considerations. Defra officials are exploring how a mandatory labelling scheme can address consumer confusion about what to do with compostable packaging. The consultation closed on 13 May and the summary of responses and next steps can be found via the below link: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/packaging-waste-changing-the-uk-producer-responsibility-system-for-packaging-waste

The Government recognises that innovation into compostable and biodegradable plastics could help reduce the environmental impacts of plastics if they are disposed of in the right way. However, this is often not the case. If these plastics are put in the domestic waste bin, for example, they are likely to end up in landfill and can break down to release powerful greenhouse gases, such as methane. If mistakenly recycled with other plastics, they have the potential to damage the quality of the new products made from the recycled plastic. Furthermore, concerns persist that plastics which are claimed to be biodegradable, if littered or otherwise released into the environment in an uncontrolled way, may not degrade quickly or at all, and they can only be composted if they meet relevant standards.

As a consequence of these concerns, the Government published a call for evidence in July 2019 to help consider the development of standards or certification criteria for bio-based, biodegradable, and compostable plastics as well as to better understand their effects on the environment and our current waste system. The call for evidence closed on the 14 October 2019 and we are currently analysing the responses received to inform future policy. We currently do not have plans to bring forward legislative proposals on the matter of requiring any form of plastic packaging to be compostable.


Written Question
Food: Packaging
Tuesday 22nd October 2019

Asked by: Nic Dakin (Labour - Scunthorpe)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits for (a) reducing littering and (b) increasing recycling rates by (i) banning food producers from using using the term biodegradable on food packaging and (ii) introducing a standard definition of the term with respect to the time-frame in which products must fully decompose.

Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Resources and Waste Strategy analysed the challenges currently facing the recycling industry in this country, setting out how we would tackle these challenges. Building on commitments in the Strategy we launched a consultation earlier this year on reforming the packaging producer responsibility system, as part of that consultation the Government proposed a mandatory UK-wide labelling system that provides clear information to help people to recycle. Following strong support for the proposal from consultation respondents, the Government is minded to take forward a mandatory labelling scheme subject to further analysis and legal considerations. Defra officials are exploring how a mandatory labelling scheme can address consumer confusion about what to do with compostable packaging. The consultation closed on 13 May and the summary of responses and next steps can be found via the below link: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/packaging-waste-changing-the-uk-producer-responsibility-system-for-packaging-waste

The Government recognises that innovation into compostable and biodegradable plastics could help reduce the environmental impacts of plastics if they are disposed of in the right way. However, this is often not the case. If these plastics are put in the domestic waste bin, for example, they are likely to end up in landfill and can break down to release powerful greenhouse gases, such as methane. If mistakenly recycled with other plastics, they have the potential to damage the quality of the new products made from the recycled plastic. Furthermore, concerns persist that plastics which are claimed to be biodegradable, if littered or otherwise released into the environment in an uncontrolled way, may not degrade quickly or at all, and they can only be composted if they meet relevant standards.

As a consequence of these concerns, the Government published a call for evidence in July 2019 to help consider the development of standards or certification criteria for bio-based, biodegradable, and compostable plastics as well as to better understand their effects on the environment and our current waste system. The call for evidence closed on the 14 October 2019 and we are currently analysing the responses received to inform future policy. We currently do not have plans to bring forward legislative proposals on the matter of requiring any form of plastic packaging to be compostable.


Written Question
Food Supply: Climate Change
Tuesday 8th October 2019

Asked by: Nic Dakin (Labour - Scunthorpe)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to (a) understand and (b) mitigate the risks to the food security of the UK population due to global climate change.

Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park

The second Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA) published in 2017 identifies risks to domestic and international food production and trade as one of the UK’s top six risks from climate change. The second National Adaptation Programme (NAP) published in 2018, sets out a plan of actions across Government to address these risks (amongst others identified in the CCRA) over the following 5 years. Specifically the NAP includes actions to ensure a food supply chain which is resilient to the effects of a changing climate.

As part of the action referenced above, we are reviewing the UK Food Security Assessment, a comprehensive analysis of UK food security in a global context. It was last published as a whole document in 2010 although the underpinning statistics are updated and monitored on a regular basis. The Assessment has six themes: Global Food Security; Global Resource Sustainability; UK Availability and Access; UK Supply Chain Resilience; Household Food Security; Consumer Safety and Confidence.

The Government has also commissioned an independent review to develop recommendations to help shape a national food strategy. The National Food Strategy will carry out an integrated analysis of our food system, looking across the issues of food security, climate change and health to develop a series of recommendations for Government.


Written Question
Food Supply
Tuesday 8th October 2019

Asked by: Nic Dakin (Labour - Scunthorpe)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the biggest risk is to the UK's food security in the (a) short, (b) medium and (c) long-term.

Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park

Food is one of the 13 Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) Sectors in the UK. Defra and the Food Standards Agency (FSA) have joint responsibility for food as CNI. Defra is responsible for security of supply, and the FSA for food safety and food crime. Food supply is a devolved issue. Defra produces a Sector Security and Resilience Plan (SSRP) which is updated annually and a summary is publicly available.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/786206/20190215_PublicSummaryOfSectorSecurityAndResiliencePlans2018.pdf

This document sets out the risk landscape through identifying the main risks to the sector as described in the National Security Risk Assessment (NSRA). and how these are managed. The UK food sector has a highly effective and resilient food supply chain, owing to the size, geographic diversity and competitive nature of the industry. While there are no individually critical food assets, the main risks arise from recognised dependencies on other critical services such as fuel, energy, transport and data communications.


Written Question
Electronic Training Aids
Tuesday 8th October 2019

Asked by: Nic Dakin (Labour - Scunthorpe)

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 22 May 2019 to Question 254811 on Electronic Training Aids, when the Government plans to bring forward legislative proposals to ban the use of electronic shock collars.

Answered by Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park

Defra continues to work up the necessary legislation needed to prohibit the use of remote controlled hand-held electronic training collars for dogs which will be laid before Parliament in due course.