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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to (a) commission and (b) publish research on the impact of the circular economy on business and consumers.

In July 2023 we published Maximising Resources, Minimising Waste which embeds our circular economy approach by setting out our priorities for action to manage resources and waste in accordance with the waste hierarchy across seven key sectors.

As with existing policies, any new policy proposed in this programme will be subject to public consultation and impact assessment which considers the individual and cumulative impacts on public expenditure, the cost to business including small and medium-sized enterprises, and consumer choice and affordability.