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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the merits of the UK becoming a net-zero exporter of plastic packaging by 2030.

We have made no formal assessment of becoming a “net-zero exporter of plastic packaging”.

The Resources and Waste strategy sets out Governments aim to significantly increase UKs reprocessing capacity, including for plastics. This will be achieved by providing a large and stable supply of recyclable waste materials, increasing the quality of the waste materials to be recycled, improving demand for recycled materials and levelling the playing field for UK reprocessors through minimising illegal waste exports.

Government has recently consulted on wide ranging reforms to support these aims through greater consistency in household and business recycling, reform of packaging producer responsibility, and the introduction of a deposit return scheme for drinks containers.