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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of whether OECD countries have internal validation systems that ensure that imported plastic waste is treated for recycling purposes to a level equivalent to that of the UK.

The Secretary of State has not assessed validation systems operated by other Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries for imports of waste. Movements of waste between countries of the OECD have been supervised and controlled under an intra-OECD Control System since 1992. The OECD Council Decision C(2001)107 FINAL provides a legal framework for the control of movements of wastes within the OECD area to ensure the environmentally sound and economically efficient recovery of wastes.

Countries apply to the OECD Council to become a member of the OECD. A technical review is then carried out to evaluate the country’s policies and practices and its ability to implement OECD standards, including the Council Decision that controls intra-OECD movements of waste. This review process will normally result in a number of measures a country must implement to demonstrate alignment with OECD requirements.

The UK cannot ultimately dictate how its waste is managed once that waste leaves the UK. There is a system of international rules on shipments which must be followed. UK businesses involved in the export of wastes are required to take all necessary steps to ensure that the waste they ship is managed in an environmentally sound manner throughout its shipment and during its recycling. Any operators found to be illegally exporting waste can face severe sanctions - from financial penalties to imprisonment for a period of up to two years.