Asked by: Lord Hayward (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what meetings they have held in the last six months with major retailers to encourage best practice in terms of limiting packaging waste; what responses they received; and what further meetings are planned for the next six months.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
Our priority is to prevent or reduce waste in the first place – keeping packaging produced to the minimum of protecting the product and communicating with the consumer. Our Packaging (Essential Requirements) Regulations require businesses to ensure that all their packaging does not exceed what is needed to make sure that the products are safe, hygienic and acceptable for both the packed product and for the consumer. These Regulations apply to those responsible for the packing or filling of products into packaging and those importing packed or filled packaging into the UK from elsewhere.
In September 2016, the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) and an industry advisory group published a framework for greater consistency encouraging councils to recycle a common set of materials, as well as setting out actions to rationalise packaging, particularly plastics, into items that can be collected for recycling while supporting innovation in packaging design.
Officials regularly meet with businesses and retailers to discuss a range of issues related to the recyclability of packaging. There will also be further opportunities for dialogue between officials and industry to inform the development of the new Resources and Waste Strategy.
Asked by: Lord Hayward (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they have taken in the last six months to encourage best practice in terms of limiting packaging waste by major retailers; and what action they are planning to take in the next six months.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
Our priority is to prevent or reduce waste in the first place – keeping packaging produced to the minimum of protecting the product and communicating with the consumer. Our Packaging (Essential Requirements) Regulations require businesses to ensure that all their packaging does not exceed what is needed to make sure that the products are safe, hygienic and acceptable for both the packed product and for the consumer. These Regulations apply to those responsible for the packing or filling of products into packaging and those importing packed or filled packaging into the UK from elsewhere.
In September 2016, the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) and an industry advisory group published a framework for greater consistency encouraging councils to recycle a common set of materials, as well as setting out actions to rationalise packaging, particularly plastics, into items that can be collected for recycling while supporting innovation in packaging design.
Officials regularly meet with businesses and retailers to discuss a range of issues related to the recyclability of packaging. There will also be further opportunities for dialogue between officials and industry to inform the development of the new Resources and Waste Strategy.
Asked by: Lord Hayward (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they have taken, and are planning to take, to discourage the use of packaging to promote multi-purchase discounts, and to encourage greater use of IT solutions as an alternative.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The Government has not taken any direct steps to encourage greater use of IT solutions as an alternative to packaging promotions.
Buy-one-get-one-free deals represent a small proportion of supermarket promotions, and increasingly retailers are moving to more ‘everyday low pricing’ models or temporary price reductions. The Government has worked through the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) to encourage retailers to provide alternative promotions for perishable food. If volume-based promotions are used (e.g. ‘3 for the price of 2’), then retailers should provide advice on how to store or freeze these foods to ensure that they are used and not wasted. This approach enables consumers to make savings but still buy the amounts or range of food that is right for them.
Asked by: Lord Hayward (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have recently reviewed their policy in relation to minimising further the use of plastic bags within retailing; and if not, whether they intend to review that policy in the next six months.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
There has been no formal review of the policy, but since the introduction of the Single Use Carrier Bags charges (England) Order 2015, 9 billion fewer single use carrier bags have been used and £95 million raised for good causes by retailers. This Order is due for review by October 2020.
Any decision to review the wider policy ahead of that date would be done within the context of the Government’s forthcoming Waste and Resources Strategy.
Asked by: Lord Hayward (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have held with British retailers in each of the last five years concerning plastic wrapping used to cover cucumbers sold to consumers.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
There is no specific requirement to wrap cucumbers in cling film or other wrapping, but food businesses are required to provide food that is both safe and fit to eat. Food businesses do cover cucumbers to improve the shelf life of these products and reduce food waste, as the environmental impact of wasting food is far greater than the packaging containing it.
We have had no discussions with retailers regarding the packaging of cucumbers over the last five years and have no plans to review the practice.
We do not collect data on specific packaging lines and formats and are not aware of any equivalent data relating to cucumber packaging from other Member States.
Asked by: Lord Hayward (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to review the practice of covering in plastic cucumbers sold to consumers.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
There is no specific requirement to wrap cucumbers in cling film or other wrapping, but food businesses are required to provide food that is both safe and fit to eat. Food businesses do cover cucumbers to improve the shelf life of these products and reduce food waste, as the environmental impact of wasting food is far greater than the packaging containing it.
We have had no discussions with retailers regarding the packaging of cucumbers over the last five years and have no plans to review the practice.
We do not collect data on specific packaging lines and formats and are not aware of any equivalent data relating to cucumber packaging from other Member States.
Asked by: Lord Hayward (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether British retailers are required to cover in plastic wrapping cucumbers sold to consumers; and if so, whether that requirement derives from (1) UK law, (2) EU law, (3) a non-legally binding commitment between the Government and retailers, or (4) some other source.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
There is no specific requirement to wrap cucumbers in cling film or other wrapping, but food businesses are required to provide food that is both safe and fit to eat. Food businesses do cover cucumbers to improve the shelf life of these products and reduce food waste, as the environmental impact of wasting food is far greater than the packaging containing it.
We have had no discussions with retailers regarding the packaging of cucumbers over the last five years and have no plans to review the practice.
We do not collect data on specific packaging lines and formats and are not aware of any equivalent data relating to cucumber packaging from other Member States.
Asked by: Lord Hayward (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the annual level of waste resulting from plastic wrapping used to cover cucumbers sold to consumers in the UK; and whether they have made any comparative assessment of the equivalent level of waste in (1) Germany, (2) France, (3) Italy, and (4) the Netherlands.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
There is no specific requirement to wrap cucumbers in cling film or other wrapping, but food businesses are required to provide food that is both safe and fit to eat. Food businesses do cover cucumbers to improve the shelf life of these products and reduce food waste, as the environmental impact of wasting food is far greater than the packaging containing it.
We have had no discussions with retailers regarding the packaging of cucumbers over the last five years and have no plans to review the practice.
We do not collect data on specific packaging lines and formats and are not aware of any equivalent data relating to cucumber packaging from other Member States.