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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to remove microplastic contamination from the (a) Mersey and (b) UK river network.

The Environment Agency (EA) regulates a number of activities which have the potential to cause plastic waste pollution in the River Mersey. The EA is responsible for the regulation of permitted and exempt plastics recycling plants, which includes reviewing inspection and compliance checks to ensure plastics recyclers are complying with their environmental permits. In 2018 the EA visited all facilities which treated or reprocessed plastic waste and checked they were not losing plastic fragments into surface water draining into the Mersey.

The EA also works nationally to reduce waste crime which helps to minimise and prevent loss of plastic waste into the environment from businesses by keeping it in the waste management system. The EA has worked with the energy sector to reduce plastic media from the cooling treatment processes. It has also worked with water companies to prevent plastic bio-bead loss from the wastewater processes. The EA is working with businesses and leading academics to investigate the types and quantities of plastics, including micro-plastics, entering the environment. This research will feed into plans to tackle this type of pollution at source.