Oral Answers to Questions

Tom Rutland Excerpts

Thursday 9th July 2026 Commons Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Mary Creagh)]

Our waste collection systems are completely different from those in Germany and France, where they have a wide network of bring banks for glass. We have the privilege of having glass collected in our household waste collection schemes. I am conscious of the dual burden that is falling on pubs, and I have tasked my officials with working at pace on the issue to find a solution for the pubs that we are all enjoying in this hot weather, with the great football. I wish England the best for their match at the weekend.

[Tom Rutland (East Worthing and Shoreham) (Lab)]

T3. I welcome the waste carrier, broker and dealer reforms, which will replace the outdated registration system with a more robust permit-based regime, introduce stronger background checks, and give regulators greater powers to tackle waste crime. Given that waste crime costs the economy £1 billion a year, will the Minister set out how the reforms will help to crack down on rouge operators, while ensuring that legitimate businesses can continue to operate and grow with confidence?

[Mary Creagh]

As we push the waste criminals out of the sector, there will be more business for legitimate operators. That also means that the carrier registration number has to be carried on the Facebook ads, leaflets and vans of waste transporters, so that householders have confidence that the people we are giving our waste to will dispose of it correctly. We are not going to have a system where dead dogs and cows can be registered. We are going to introduce criminal record and identity checks and ensure that everyone knows what they are doing when they are transporting hazardous waste.