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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 11 June 2021 to Question 7904 on Plastics: Supermarkets, what steps he is taking to incentivise supermarkets and other companies to reduce their use of (a) single-use and (b) general plastics in each of the financial years (i) 2021-22, (ii) 2022-23, (iii) 2023-24 and (iv) 2024-25.

The Government's 25 Year Environment Plan sets out our ambition to eliminate all avoidable plastic waste by the end of 2042, which encompasses single-use plastic waste. I would also refer to the Answer of 11 June 2021 to Question 7904, as many of the actions set out there will incentivise businesses. We are making great strides to tackle plastic pollution across the country. In December 2018, we published the Resources and Waste Strategy, which set out how we want to achieve this and move towards a circular economy which keeps resources in the system for as long as possible. The Resources and Waste Strategy also sets out a timeline for action, although in some instances the impact of Covid-19 has led to delays. In clearly laying out the Government's position and direction, we intend to provide industry with the confidence to take action to reduce their use of plastics.

Indeed, industry is acting. The UK Plastics Pact was jointly founded by the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) and the Ellen McArthur Foundation and is supported by the Government. The Pact brings together organisations from across the plastics supply chain, with four key targets for 2025 that aim to reduce the amount of plastic waste generated. Members of the Pact account for two-thirds of consumer plastic packaging in the UK.

Alongside our support for voluntary action by industry, the Government is taking regulatory action. The single-use carrier bag charge, which has led to a 95% reduction in the use of single-use carrier bags by the main supermarkets, has been increased to 10p and extended to all retailers to encourage customers to bring their own bags to carry shopping and reduce the volumes of single-use plastic being used.

We have included a number of measures in the Environment Bill to enable us, through regulations, to tackle plastics and plastic waste. These include measures to impose charges on single-use plastic items; introduce a Deposit Return Scheme for drinks containers; and make producers cover the costs of collecting and managing plastic packaging waste. As well as this, the Bill gives us powers to provide consistent recycling services for household and businesses; ensure all packaging is labelled either 'recyclable' or 'not recyclable'; set requirements regarding design and material usage for products; and allows for us to control the export of plastic waste better.

The Government is also reforming the packaging producer responsibility regulations and developing extended producer responsibility (EPR) for packaging. Our proposal is for the first phase of EPR to be established in 2023. EPR for packaging will see packaging producers paying for the waste management costs associated with the packaging that they place on the market. This will ensure producers are thinking about the necessity of any packaging they use. In developing EPR for packaging, we will also take consideration of how EPR for packaging could be used to encourage packaging reuse and refill systems. The Government consultation on EPR for packaging closed on 4 June 2021:

https://consult.defra.gov.uk/extended-producer-responsibility/extended-producer-responsibility-for-packaging/.