Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans he has to support local authorities in tackling methane emissions from landfill sites through improved (a) waste separation, (b) capture technologies and (c) food waste reduction.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Reducing emissions further requires ‘turning off the tap’ for landfill gas production by diverting biodegradable waste from landfill, as well as maximising capture and destruction of landfill gas created by previously deposited waste.
Defra is exploring options for the near elimination of municipal biodegradable waste to landfill from 2028 and landfill gas capture and is engaging with the landfill and landfill gas operators on these issues.
Simpler Recycling will deliver changes in waste management including separate food waste collection which explicitly aims to divert this material from landfill.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans he has to support local authorities in tackling methane emissions.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Reducing emissions further requires ‘turning off the tap’ for landfill gas production by diverting biodegradable waste from landfill, as well as maximising capture and destruction of landfill gas created by previously deposited waste.
Defra is exploring options for the near elimination of municipal biodegradable waste to landfill from 2028 and landfill gas capture and is engaging with the landfill and landfill gas operators on these issues.
Simpler Recycling will deliver changes in waste management including separate food waste collection which explicitly aims to divert this material from landfill.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the National Food Strategy will reference young people.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
We are developing an ambitious new food strategy to set the food system up for long term success. The strategy will deliver wide ranging improvements. Everyone including young people will benefit from a healthier, more affordable, sustainable and resilient 21st century UK food system that grows the economy, feeds the nation, nourishes people, and protects the environment, now and in the future. A number of food strategy outcomes are particularly important for young people touching on children's health, food education, and jobs and skills in the food sector.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if his Department will include plans to ensure food partnerships in every area by 2030 in the National Food Strategy.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
The food strategy will articulate the outcomes we want from the food system, enabling the Government, civil society, and the food industry work to shared goals and priorities. Local and place-based approaches will have a key role to play in delivery of these outcomes. We will continue to work with partners across the food system as we develop our approach.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of trends in the levels of recycling rates for (a) plastic, (b) metal and (c) glass beverage containers.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra has not made an assessment of trends in the levels of recycling rates for plastic, metal and glass beverage containers.
However, Defra’s Impact Assessment for the Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) uses external estimates of the recycling rates for beverage containers made of specific materials for specific years –
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukia/2024/217/pdfs/ukia_20240217_en.pdf
Defra more routinely publishes annual statistics on the total amount of UK packaging waste that is recycled broken down by material types. The following table shows the amount of packing waste recycled by material types for 2023. The amount of recycled packaging is based on tonnages reported by accredited reprocessors and exporters under the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations.
Table1: Packaging waste and recycling, split by material, UK 2023 (thousand tonnes and % rate)
Material | Packaging waste arising | Total recycled | Achieved recycling rate |
Metal | 774 | 551 | 71.2% |
— of which: Aluminium | 277 | 162 | 58.6% |
— of which: Steel | 497 | 389 | 78.3% |
Paper and cardboard | 5,422 | 3,980 | 73.4% |
Glass | 2,680 | 1,818 | 67.8% |
Plastic | 2,259 | 1,186 | 52.5% |
Wood | 1,504 | 668 | 44.4% |
Other* materials | 23 | 0 | 0.0% |
Total | 12,662 | 8,204 | 64.8% |
Notes
* ‘Other’ includes materials such as cloth, corks, gel, glue, hessian sacks and wax used as packaging
Arisings estimates made at point of manufacture.
UK packaging waste figures by material types for 2012 to 2023 can be found in the UK statistics on waste dataset: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/uk-waste-data.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of breakage rate of glass beverage containers in kerbside collections.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra has not made an assessment on the breakage rate of glass beverage contains in kerbside collections.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to increase the recycling rate of glass beverage containers.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government has set ambitious recycling targets under the packaging Extended Producer Responsibility (pEPR) regulations, with annual increases to glass packaging. The packaging recycling target for glass in 2025 is 74% and will increase to 85% by 2030. Modulation of pEPR fees, which will be introduced from year two of the scheme, will be used to disincentivise packaging formats that are not readily recyclable by placing higher fees on these packaging materials.
The Government has also introduced the Simpler Recycling reforms, which will ensure that every household and workplace (businesses and relevant non-domestic premises like schools and hospitals) across England will be able to recycle the same materials, including glass.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress his Department has made on improving responsible access to nature in Greater Manchester.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government recognises the importance of access to nature for health and wellbeing and is committed to ensuring it is safe, inclusive and appropriate. We are delivering on our ambitious manifesto commitments to create nine new national river walks and three new national forests in England while also developing wider policy to improve access to nature in collaboration with other departments and stakeholders.
We are already delivering several initiatives to expand access to green spaces and parks, such as the £16 million ‘Access for All’ programme, which supports inclusive access to protected landscapes, national trailsand green spaces.
The National Planning Policy Framework stipulates planning policies to consider the need for open space and recreation facilities. We have also established the Parks Working Group to find practical solutions to improve the quality and sustainability of parks, with an emphasis on equitable access.
Through the £1.5 billion Plan for Neighbourhoods up to £20 million will support 75 communities across the UK over the next decade. This can include improving green spaces, with Chadderton, Ashton under Lyne and Farnworth already selected.
Finally, we own the Green Flag Award scheme, which sets national standards for green spaces. In 2024, 2,227 awards were given, including nine in Manchester.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress his Department has made on improving access to parks and green spaces.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government recognises the importance of access to nature for health and wellbeing and is committed to ensuring it is safe, inclusive and appropriate. We are delivering on our ambitious manifesto commitments to create nine new national river walks and three new national forests in England while also developing wider policy to improve access to nature in collaboration with other departments and stakeholders.
We are already delivering several initiatives to expand access to green spaces and parks, such as the £16 million ‘Access for All’ programme, which supports inclusive access to protected landscapes, national trailsand green spaces.
The National Planning Policy Framework stipulates planning policies to consider the need for open space and recreation facilities. We have also established the Parks Working Group to find practical solutions to improve the quality and sustainability of parks, with an emphasis on equitable access.
Through the £1.5 billion Plan for Neighbourhoods up to £20 million will support 75 communities across the UK over the next decade. This can include improving green spaces, with Chadderton, Ashton under Lyne and Farnworth already selected.
Finally, we own the Green Flag Award scheme, which sets national standards for green spaces. In 2024, 2,227 awards were given, including nine in Manchester.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Welsh Government on aligning the UK-wide bottle return scheme with the planned scheme for Wales.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is committed to deliver a Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) in England in October 2027 and to realise its benefits of reducing litter, increasing recycling, and creating high quality recyclate that will support the transition to a circular economy.
Following a period of joint development of DRS across all four nations, the Welsh Government made the decision to withdraw from this approach in November 2024.
Defra Ministers remain in close contact with Welsh Government counterparts through bilateral meetings, calls, and written correspondence. Officials remain in close working partnership with the Welsh Government as they take the decisions regarding a DRS in Wales.
The UK Government is keen to keep the door open to provide as much interoperability of schemes across the UK as possible.