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

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to improve recycling infrastructure and technologies to enable the increased recovery of critical minerals and other materials.

Defra is committed to delivering a more sustainable future for the UK and world. Supporting this we announced in February the world’s first United Nations-backed International Centre of Excellence on Sustainable Resource Management in the Circular Economy. The centre will deliver solutions that will promote recycling and Circular Economy solutions across a range of important minerals and metals, including Critical Minerals. In partnership with national and international partners the centre will deliver environmentally sustainable primary extraction of Critical Minerals and map the flow of these critical and priority minerals across their complete life cycle, from extraction to reuse, recovery to disposal.

Further, Government recently consulted on proposals to reform the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations and will consult in the summer on reforms to the Batteries Regulations, with the intention in both cases of improving the collection and treatment of waste products and materials at end-of-life.