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 findings of the May 2018 report by the Institute for European Environmental Policy, what steps his Department is taking to tackle micro-plastic contamination on land; and if he will make a statement.

Our priority is preventing plastic from entering the environment in the first place, be that the marine or terrestrial environment. The Resources and Waste Strategy, published in December last year, sets out our plans to eliminate all avoidable plastic waste. This encompasses all types of plastic, including microplastics, and we are already taking action.

Last year we introduced one of the world’s strongest bans on microbeads in rinse-off personal care products. Microbeads, like other microplastics, do not biodegrade and therefore accumulate in the environment.

To address the evidence gaps surrounding other sources of microplastics, we are funding research by the University of Plymouth into textiles and tyres which are estimated to be significant sources of microplastics in the environment.

As set out in the Resources and Waste Strategy, Defra recognises the problems associated with plastic contamination in soil. We are working with the Waste and Resources Action Programme to explore how Government policy can address this issue, including by bringing industry and trade associations together through the Food Waste Recycling Action Plan to minimise plastic pollution in compost and digestate.

The UK welcomes international collaboration on preventing and reducing plastic waste. The actions listed in the EU’s plastics strategy and its proposed Directive on reducing the impact of certain plastic products on the environment are broadly consistent with Government policy in this area. The UK supports this initiative and welcomes the EU in following our lead and recognising the importance of addressing plastic pollution. We will match or where economically practicable exceed the Directive’s ambition.