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 is taking to establish a single, mandatory recycling labelling scheme.

In the response to the 2021 consultation on Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging, HM Government set out its intention to introduce mandatory recyclability labelling on all product packaging. Producers will be required to label packaging to indicate whether it is recyclable or not. To provide consumers with clear and consistent information to help them to recycle correctly, there will be a single approach to labelling packaging across the UK. This will reduce confusion over what can be recycled which will increase recycling rates and reduce contamination in recycling waste streams.

The requirement to label packaging will be introduced as part of new UK-wide packaging regulations that are expected to enter into force late in 2023.