Plastics: Waste Disposal

(asked on 5th January 2022) - View Source

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department is taking steps to increase the UK's domestic capacity for disposing flexible plastic waste.


Answered by
Jo Churchill Portrait
Jo Churchill
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
This question was answered on 13th January 2022

Waste is a devolved matter – this information relates to England only.

Defra, and the Government as a whole, is taking significant steps to increase UK plastics recycling – including of flexible plastics.

The Government-funded UK Research and Innovation Industrial Strategy Challenge invested £20 million into four UK plastic reprocessing facilities to develop new technologies to recycle plastic. Three of these projects include the development of chemical recycling plants which turn difficult to recycle plastic waste (such as plastic films) back into oil which can be used to replace virgin oil for use in new plastic products. More information about these can be found at:

https://www.ukri.org/news/ukri-funding-puts-uk-at-the-forefront-of-plastic-recycling/.

We have also taken a range of measures to boost the market for plastic recycling – delivering the conditions for further private sector investment. The Plastic Packaging Tax comes in from April and will see a charge of £200 per tonne on plastic packaging with less than 30% recycled content and measures such as the deposit return scheme and consistent collections will help ensure a consistent supply of high-quality material for recycling.

This continues to be a priority for the department, and officials will continue to engage with plastic recyclers to identify other suitable routes to promote their important work.

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