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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Prime Minister’s answer to oral question 911441 on 27 January 2021, what the timetable is for the Government to ban all plastic waste exports to non-OECD countries.

The UK Government stated its ambition to ban exports of plastic waste to non-OECD countries in its manifesto, published in November 2019. The Government has committed to consult on this measure and work is underway to make this happen. Defra has commissioned research to better understand plastic waste recycling capacity in the UK and OECD member countries and this research will be key to the development of policy options to implement the manifesto commitment. We currently plan to consult before the end of 2022 on options to deliver the proposed ban.