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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what his policy is on (a) chemical recycling and (b) the mass balance approach at the INC5 negotiations for the UN Global Plastics Treaty.

At the fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to develop a new UN Plastic Pollution Treaty, the UK will align with our domestic policy on any provisions related to chemical recycling.

The UK recognises that chemical recycling technologies can offer a complementary route to support the transition towards a circular economy, where mechanical recycling is unfeasible or uneconomic and where this waste may otherwise be incinerated.

Our domestic policy will inform our position on any provisions related to chemical recycling, including the mass balance approach, that are negotiated at the fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to develop a new UN Plastics Pollution Treaty.