A number of constituents have contacted me regarding plastic pollution.

The Resources and Waste Strategy for England sets out the Government’s plans to reduce, reuse, and recycle more plastic and Ministers have committed to work towards all plastic packaging on the market being recyclable or reusable by 2025.

Significant progress has already been made to address plastic pollution, including a ban on microbeads and restricting the supply of plastic straws, plastic drink stirrers, and plastic-stemmed cotton buds. The use of single-use carrier bags in supermarkets has reduced by over 98 per cent.

Restrictions on a range of single-use plastics, including plastic plates, trays, bowls, cutlery, balloon sticks and certain types of polystyrene cups and food containers have now come into force. England uses 2.7 billion items of single-use cutlery and over 700 million single-use plates per year, but only 10 per cent are recycled. This new ban is the next step in cracking down on harmful plastic waste.

Through the Environment Act 2021, the Government has set a target is to halve residual waste by 2042. This refers to waste that is sent to landfill, put through incineration, or used in energy recovery in the UK or overseas. This is an intentionally broad target, which will include the most environmentally harmful materials like plastics, rather than banning a single type of material and risk producers moving to a different, more harmful material.

The UK is a founding member of the High Ambition Coalition to End Plastic Pollution, a group of over 60 countries calling for an ambitious and effective treaty. The UK has been a vocal proponent of a strong and comprehensive agreement that covers the whole lifecycle of plastics, including restraining and reducing the production and consumption of plastic to sustainable levels, promoting a circular economy for plastic, managing plastic waste in an environmentally sound and safe manner, and preventing and reducing releases of plastics into the environment. The Government is committed to securing an agreement on a new, legally binding plastics treaty by the end of the year and is working closely with other Parties and stakeholders to facilitate progress.