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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to deal with the containers of plastic waste returning to the UK from Malaysia; and how they intend to police any further offshore waste contracts.

The Government is deeply concerned about the illegal trade in waste, including reports of illegal plastic waste exported from the UK to Malaysia. Recognising the difficulties experienced by some countries in managing imports of plastic waste the Queen’s Speech on the 19 December included a commitment to ban the export of polluting plastic wastes to countries that are not members of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The Environment Bill includes a power which will enable us to deliver on this commitment and we will consult this year on the date by which this should be achieved. The Bill also includes a power to introduce electronic tracking of waste to help tackle waste crime here in the UK and prevent illegal waste from being shipped abroad.

The Environment Agency (EA), as competent authority of England, is overseeing the voluntary return of all 42 improperly documented containers of plastic waste from Malaysia and subsequent lawful recovery or disposal of the waste in the UK. Currently, 35 of the containers have already arrived in England and the remaining 7 are scheduled to be returned shortly. The return of these containers is being managed and financed by the parties involved in the original export to Malaysia as it is their responsibility.

In addition, the British High Commission in Kuala Lumpur is currently supporting the Malaysian government in tackling the wider plastic waste problem. This includes sharing UK experience as well as collaborating with the Malaysian government in developing a Malaysian version of a Plastics Pact (a cross stakeholder grouping) to drive more effective management of plastic and plastic wastes. My department and the British High Commission also facilitated a technical meeting in Kuala Lumpur between UK and Malaysian enforcement authorities to improve plastic waste export/import protocols.

Compliance with the legislation on waste shipments is monitored by the UK’s four environmental regulators[1]. In England in 2018/19 the EA inspected almost 1,000 shipping containers at ports and returned over 200 of those to sites. During this period, the EA also prevented 12,000 tonnes of waste from reaching ports which may have otherwise been exported illegally. Any operators found to be illegally exporting waste can face severe sanctions – from financial penalties to imprisonment for a period of up to two years.

[1] The Environment Agency in England, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, the Northern Ireland Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales