Plastics: Waste Disposal

(asked on 6th July 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what research the Government is funding on how UK businesses and their supply chains make, use and dispose of plastic, and the risks those actions pose to human health.


Answered by
Nadhim Zahawi Portrait
Nadhim Zahawi
This question was answered on 14th July 2021

The Government put together a package of £100 million for research and innovation to tackle the issues that arise from plastic waste. UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) funds a variety of projects related to plastics including around understanding and improving supply chains and environmental and health impacts. For example, the Smart Sustainable Plastic Packaging Challenge, with £60m of funding from UKRI through the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund and matched by £149m from industry, is supporting academic-led research to address known problems and to support industry-led collaborative research and development of new technologies, establishing the UK as a leader in smart sustainable packaging and supporting a reduction in waste entering the environment. This builds on the success of the £20m Plastic Research and Innovation Fund, which established projects like the UK Circular Plastics Network which brings together the diverse users of plastic products and realise the best means for reducing plastic waste.

Reticulating Splines