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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the progress of industry and businesses in developing cost-effective microplastic filter solutions for washing machines.

Defra officials gratefully received information which the honourable member kindly provided in her recent letter to me. The information was reported by a washing machine filter technology group describing solutions to tackling microplastics and microfibres as a product of washing textiles and clothing. Officials are currently assessing the details.

The Government is concerned about the risks microplastics in our water environment may pose to public health and to the environment. Defra is working with water companies to investigate microplastics detected during wastewater treatment and their potential to enter the receiving aquatic environment.