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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to (a) reduce household plastic waste and (b) prevent plastic waste from being shipped overseas.

A) Our 25 Year Environment Plan set out the Government’s ambition to eliminate all avoidable plastic waste by the end of 2042. In 2018, we published the Resources and Waste Strategy, which sets out how we want to achieve this. For the most problematic plastics we are going faster - which is why we are working towards all plastic packaging being recyclable or reusable by 2025.

Our Environment Bill will enable us to take forward a number of key proposals including Extended Producer Responsibility, a Deposit Return Scheme, greater consistency in the recycling system, better control of the export of plastic waste and powers to set new charges for single-use plastic items. We have already introduced measures to restrict the supply of plastic straws, stirrers and cotton buds. We will consult shortly on banning a range of other single-use plastic items, including plates, cutlery and polystyrene cups. The single use carrier bag charge, which has led to a 95% reduction in their use at main supermarkets, has been doubled to 10p, and extended to all retailers. Going further still, from April 2022, plastic packaging without at least 30% recycled content will be taxed at £200/tonne. Taken together, these amount to one of the most comprehensive programmes of any major economy in tackling this issue.

B) The Government recognises the difficulties some importing countries have in dealing with plastic waste and that is why we have committed to banning the export of plastic waste to countries that are not members of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD); we plan to consult before the end of 2022 on options to deliver the ban.