Oral Answers to Questions

Vicky Ford Excerpts

Thursday 25th January 2018 Commons Chamber

[Alan Mak (Havant) (Con)]

1. What steps he is taking to reduce waste from plastics.

[Vicky Ford (Chelmsford) (Con)]

8. What steps he is taking to reduce waste from plastics.

[The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Michael Gove)]

On 11 January, the Government published our 25-year environment plan, which states our ambition to eliminate all avoidable plastic waste. We have already banned microbeads in personal care products, we are removing single-use plastics from Government estate offices, we are exploring a reward and return scheme, and we welcome the introduction by retailers of plastic-free aisles. We are also investigating how we can develop our producer responsibility scheme to give producers more incentives to design more resource-efficient products.

[Michael Gove]

I absolutely will. The leadership shown by Havant Borough Council is equalled, of course, by the leadership shown by my hon. Friend. When I had the opportunity to visit his constituency and its coastline last year, I saw his commitment to our marine environment. It is vital that colleagues such as my hon. Friend are applauded for their determined environmental work.

[Vicky Ford]

People in Chelmsford really care about their recycling. Will my right hon. Friend confirm what actions we can take to ensure that the end product can be put to meaningful use after we put things in our recycling?

[Michael Gove]

My hon. Friend makes an important point. She has made determined efforts in not just this Parliament but the European Parliament to make recycling easier for all. We are exploring how we can better co-ordinate efforts at a local level to ensure that more material is recycled and, indeed, that more recyclable material is used.