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.

This Government is committed to transitioning to a circular economy. The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has convened the Circular Economy Taskforce to help us develop a Circular Economy Strategy for England, which will be supported by a series of roadmaps detailing the interventions that the government and others will make on a sector-by-sector basis. We are considering the evidence for interventions right across the economy, including interventions that would enable the increased recovery of critical minerals and other materials.

Critical minerals in particular are crucial for the Government’s ambition to kickstart economic growth and make Britain a clean energy superpower. The Department for Business and Trade plans to bring forward a Critical Minerals Strategy, which will support the aims of the forthcoming Circular Economy Strategy by driving ambitious reform to promote recycling and the retention of critical minerals within the UK economy.

Beyond critical minerals, the largest waste management companies in the UK estimates that over the next decade the forthcoming Collection and Packaging Reforms alone will stimulate £10 billion investment in recycling infrastructure and create 21,000 new jobs; whilst also enhancing UK domestic material security by reducing reliance on virgin imports of critical materials.