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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether polyethylene terephthalate (PET) has a lower carbon footprint than other forms of alternative packaging; why there is only one site in the UK able to recycle PET for use in food grade products; and what assessment they have made of the absence of such facilities on the amount of waste exported for recycling.

The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) has assessed the carbon footprint of different types of packaging as part of its carbon ready reckoner, which assesses the carbon impacts of design changes to a packaged product. WRAP analysis suggests that in assessing polyethylene terephthalate (PET), compared with other forms of packaging, it is not the material that is the determining factor of its carbon footprint, but rather other considerations such as packaging weight, recycled content, performance, and management of the packaging at end of life. The carbon footprint of all packaging materials can be reduced through optimising recycled content and weight.

The number of recycling facilities in the UK is driven by demand from industry in meeting their packaging recycling and recovery obligations, as part of a market-based form of producer responsibility. The decision by manufacturers whether to use recycled content in their products is a complex one. New Government policies, that will shortly be consulted on, such as reform of the packaging waste producer responsibility system and introducing a deposit return scheme for single-use drinks containers, will help to increase the quality and quantity of materials available to recyclers and stimulate demand for secondary materials. The Government has also announced the introduction of a new tax from April 2022 on any produced or imported plastic packaging that does not include at least 30% recycled content, which will further drive up demand.