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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he taking to increase the recycling rates of soft plastics not normally collected at the kerbside.

Recyclable plastic film and flexible packaging is to be collected for recycling from both households and businesses across the UK by 31 March 2027.

Waste is a devolved policy area. This will be implemented as part of Simpler Recycling in England, and the devolved administrations will have similar arrangements.

In the lead up to this requirement, existing kerbside, front of store and postal take back collections of plastic films for recycling will continue and are expected to increase in response to certainty over the timing of the introduction of this new collection requirement. Investment in new UK plastic reprocessing facilities is also expected.

To support our ambitious goals to recycle plastic film, Defra alongside the Flexible Plastic Fund, UK Research and Innovation and Zero Waste Scotland, is funding a multi-million-pound pilot project on flexible plastic kerbside collections.