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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans his Department has to take steps to help prevent single use personal protective equipment from (a) polluting the sea and (b) affecting marine life; and if he will make a statement.

The UK is taking a number of steps to tackle marine litter. The Government has introduced a ban on microbeads in rinse-off personal care products, and the supply of cotton buds, stirrers and plastic straws (with some exemptions). The Government’s 5p plastic carrier bag charge has significantly reduced the use of these bags by 95% in the main supermarket retailers, and we have decided to increase the minimum charge to 10p and extend it to all retailers. The Resources and Waste Strategy for England, published in December 2018, sets out our plans to eliminate all avoidable plastic waste, working towards our 25 Year Environment Plan target to reduce all types of marine plastic pollution.

Marine litter is a transboundary issue that requires international cooperation. In 2018, the UK launched the Commonwealth Clean Ocean Alliance (CCOA) alongside Vanuatu, now a community of 34 member states who have pledged action on reducing plastic pollution in the ocean. A number of programmes worth up to £70 million in total have been set up across Government to support the CCOA's ambitions. The UK has committed to establishing a £500 million Blue Planet Fund, resourced from the UK's Official Development Assistance budget, that will help eligible countries protect their marine resources from key human-generated threats, including marine pollution.

The Government has published guidance on the disposal of face coverings and other PPE during the coronavirus pandemic. This is available at: www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-disposing-of-waste. We have also been circulating these messages widely on social media and urging people to not recycle or litter used PPE and instead to put it in the normal waste bin.