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

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have any plans to introduce legislation to require councils to accept polystyrene for recycling; and if not, whether they intend to ban the use of polystyrene as a packaging material once the UK has left the EU.

The recycling of packaging has risen from around 46% to 60% over the last decade and our packaging regulations and policies incentivise businesses to use less packaging and to ensure that their packaging can be recycled at end of life. There are no plans to ban any specific packaging materials at this time.

Almost all packaging is technically recyclable, including black plastic and expanded polystyrene. Some local authorities and waste management companies choose not to collect this type of packaging for recycling for various reasons, including cost of investing in new machinery which can sort this packaging.

WRAP has published a report on the technical solutions to improve the separation of black plastic in the sorting process and is working with a working group of industry and local authorities to put in place arrangements to expand the collection and recycling of black plastic from households.

Commercially, polystyrene is collected for recycling and producers are supporting work to increase recycling of this material. It is not commonly collected at the kerbside for recycling due to its bulk and low value as a secondary material.