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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the recycling rates of plastic film.

Yes, Defra is supporting the multi-million-pound FlexCollect project, launched in May 2022, funding local authorities to roll out kerbside plastic film collection trials. This will help gather insights to support effective collections more widely ahead of the requirement to collect plastic film from workplaces and households under Simpler Recycling.

Kerbside plastic film collections from workplaces and households will be introduced by 31 March 2027 in England. Defra is only directly responsible for delivering this in England via Simpler Recycling. The devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are working on their own plans to introduce plastic film collections under extended producer responsibility for packaging.