Asked by: Claudia Webbe (Independent - Leicester East)
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 promote environmental sustainability among fast fashion garment producers.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
Since 2012, Defra has worked with the clothing industry through the Sustainable Clothing Action Plan (SCAP), co-ordinated by WRAP, to reduce the environmental impact of the sector. During this time SCAP signatories have reduced their water and carbon footprints per tonne of clothing by 19.5% and 15.9% respectively. Building on this, we have worked closely with the industry through WRAP, to develop a new voluntary agreement ‘Textiles 2030’, scheduled for launch in April. This has ambitious targets, aligned with global goals on carbon and water and aims to drive the shift to a more resource efficient textiles sector in the UK.
Textiles is also one of seven key sectors included in our new draft Waste Prevention Programme for England, which was published for consultation on 18 March. This builds on the Resources and Waste Strategy (2018) and sets out government’s approach to improve resource efficiency and reduce waste. It announces that we will develop a proposal for an Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) scheme for textiles, supported by measures to encourage better design and information, and will consult with stakeholders on this by the end of 2022. This could help to boost reuse and recycling of textiles and reduce the environmental footprint of the sector. Our landmark Environment Bill will also give us the powers to take action to ensure better design and provision of consumer information to promote sustainability.
Asked by: Claudia Webbe (Independent - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many exports of pesticides banned in the UK have been supplied to (a) India and (b) other regions in the last two years; and what plans he has to prohibit exports of (a) Paraquet and (b) other pesticides that are banned in the UK to India.
Answered by Baroness Prentis of Banbury
The export of non-approved or severely restricted pesticides is regulated under the Great Britain Prior Informed Consent (PIC) regulatory regime for the export and import of certain hazardous chemicals. Companies intending to export any of these chemicals must notify the importing country via the exporter’s Designated National Authority. If a chemical is restricted for one use (for example use as a pesticide) all exports will be covered by PIC even if the export will in fact be used for a purpose that is not subject to restrictions.
The exchange of information under PIC helps importing countries to make informed decisions on the import, handling and use of those chemicals for their specific circumstances.
Some information on exports in previous years can be found on the website of the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), although this does not include all the detail requested. Defra does not hold this information.
Asked by: Claudia Webbe (Independent - Leicester East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has plans to keep garden centres open in the event of a lockdown as a result of covid-19.
Answered by Baroness Prentis of Banbury
We understand this issue is of great concern to the sector and we are in discussions with the Horticultural Trades Association.