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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans she has to reduce the availability of single use plastics; and will she make a statement.

Published last year, the Government’s Resources and Waste Strategy, sets out our plans to reduce, reuse and recycle more plastic than we do now. Our target is to eliminate all avoidable plastic waste throughout the life of the 25 Year Environment Plan, but for the most problematic plastics we are going faster - that is why we commit to work towards all plastic packaging placed on the UK market being recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2025.

We have made good progress. Our plastic bag charge has led to a 90% reduction in the use of plastic carrier bags in the main retailers, and we recently consulted on plans to extend the charge to all retailers and on increasing the minimum charge to at least 10p. We want to further incentivise people to choose sustainable alternatives to single-use plastics. We are therefore seeking a power in the Environment Bill to be able to place a charge on any single-use plastic item.

In addition, the Government will introduce a ban, with exemptions, on the supply of single use plastic drinking straws, plastic drink stirrers and plastic-stemmed cotton buds to the end user in England in April 2020. As set out in the Resources and Waste Strategy, we will take a strategic approach to the use of bans as part of a broader approach to reduce the use of single-use plastics.