Asked by: Anne Main (Conservative - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to ensure water companies responsibly manage their water abstraction activities from chalk streams.
Answered by George Eustice
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Anne Main (Conservative - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps her Department has taken to reduce the number of recyclable cups and bottles sent to landfill.
Answered by George Eustice
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Anne Main (Conservative - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent representations the Government has made to the Government of Japan against its decision to resume commercial whaling.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
We are very disappointed with Japan’s decision to withdraw from the International Whaling Commission and restart commercial whaling. The Prime Minister raised concerns with Prime Minister Abe during his visit to the UK in January. The Secretary of State has written to his Japanese counterpart on this matter. We will continue to work with the Japanese Government to engage with them and raise our concerns at every level, and we urge them to rethink their decision.
Asked by: Anne Main (Conservative - St Albans)
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 (a) increase the amount of plastic that is recycled, and (b) improve the UK’s recycling infrastructure.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
The Government’s Resources and Waste Strategy for England, published in December last year, sets out how we will reduce plastic pollution and preserve material resources by minimising waste, increasing recycling rates, promoting resource efficiency and moving towards a more circular economy. We have consulted on reforms to household and business recycling collections which are intended to improve the quantity and quality of materials collected for recycling, including plastic, and on proposals to make producers pay the full net cost for dealing with the packaging they put on the market at end-of-life, and on the potential introduction of a deposit return scheme. Her Majesty’s Treasury have also consulted on a world-leading tax on plastic packaging which does not contain at least 30% recycled material. These reforms should help reduce waste and increase the amount of packaging recycled.
Defra also supports the UK Plastics Pact, a unique collaboration launched by Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) that will create a circular economy for plastics. WRAP estimates these members are responsible for over 80% of the plastic packaging on products sold through UK supermarkets, and approximately 50% of the total plastic packaging placed on the UK market.
The Government is also acting to help ensure the right infrastructure is in place to deliver high quality secondary materials for recycling. It is investing around £3 billion of grant funding in waste infrastructure projects. These grants support infrastructure including material recovery, mechanical biological treatment and anaerobic digestion facilities, as well as implementation and expanding kerbside recycling services. It also recently announced £4.7 million of grant funding for recycling infrastructure projects that will help to recycle difficult plastic packaging and textile materials. Further grant opportunities around recycling will follow in due course.
Asked by: Anne Main (Conservative - St Albans)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department has taken to ensure an alignment of the (a) design and (b) implementation of deposit return schemes in England and Scotland.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
The Government has confirmed that it will introduce a deposit return scheme (DRS) for drinks containers in England, subject to consultation. The specific model, scope and scale of any scheme is being considered as part of this consultation, which is also being undertaken with the Welsh government and the Northern Ireland administration.
As waste and recycling policy is a devolved matter, the devolved administrations can decide policy separately. The Government is therefore unable to specify how a DRS in Scotland should be implemented, nor at this point are we considering specifically a pilot scheme. However, ministers and officials have met to discuss progress and recognise the benefits of a coherent system across the UK. DRS in England could form part of a coherent system across the UK and we will continue to work closely with the devolved administrations on this policy area.
The role of a Deposit Management Organisation in managing the operation of a DRS, including being responsible for the maintenance of Reverse Vending Machines, is currently being considered as part of our consultation. We will consider alternative approaches as part of our analysis of the consultation responses.