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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to reduce the level of plastic particles in rivers.

The Government has set a target to eliminate all avoidable plastic waste within the lifetime of the 25 year Environment Plan (by 2042) and set aside £20 million for research and development managed through the Plastics Innovation Fund in March 2018. A further £10 million was committed in the 2018 Autumn Budget for continued/additional plastics research and development along with £10 million to pioneer innovative approaches to boosting recycling and reducing litter.

There has been substantive research reporting the presence and impacts of microplastics in the marine environment. However, little is known about their sources, release and impact on freshwaters and their transport to the marine environment. Defra has therefore commissioned evidence reviews to increase our understanding of these issues.

Defra is also working with the Environment Agency and the UK water industry to establish methods to detect, characterise and quantify microplastics entering wastewater treatment works, to evaluate the efficiency of treatment processes for their removal from domestic wastewaters and to assess their fate and biological effects in receiving rivers. In addition, Defra has commissioned the University of Plymouth to carry out research into textiles and tyres which are estimated to be significant sources of microplastics in the marine environment, and the Drinking Water Inspectorate has commissioned research on removal of microplastics by drinking water treatment processes.

The outcomes from these research projects will be used in the development of policy options to help mitigate the impact of microplastics in the aquatic environment.