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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the primary routes by which single-use plastics enter UK seas and rivers.

A study in 2016 showed that of the estimated 12.2 million tonnes of plastic entering the global marine environment every year, 9.5 million tonnes (over 80%) came from land based sources. The report identified larger plastic litter, including single use plastics such as drinks bottles, and other types of plastic packaging as the main source of plastics entering the seas. Much of this plastic will have been washed into the seas down rivers. The conclusions of this report are consistent with the findings of UK marine litter monitoring supported by Defra.

The two reports can be found at:

http://www.eunomia.co.uk/reports-tools/plastics-in-the-marine-environment/

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/marine-strategy-part-three-uk-programme-of-measures