Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what proportion of plastic packaging used in the UK has been recycled in the UK in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
It is illegal under retained EU law to export UK waste for disposal to countries outside the European Union and the European Free Trade Area. Individuals and businesses found to be exporting waste in contravention of the requirements of the UK legislation can face a two-year jail term and an unlimited fine. In addition, the export of UK waste for disposal to EU/ EFTA countries is generally prohibited, save for the strictly limited exceptions which are laid out in the UK Plan for Shipments of Waste. Proposed updates to the Plan were consulted upon earlier this year and the revised UK Plan will be published next month. The UK Government is committed to banning the export of plastic waste for recycling to countries that are not members of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The Government will consult on this measure and work is underway to make this happen.
The UK environmental regulators take a pro-active, intelligence led approach to checking compliance with the legislation on waste shipments, targeting exports which pose a high risk and intervening to stop illegal exports taking place. In 2019-20 the Environment Agency (EA) stopped 1,889 containers at ports and intervened at waste loading sites, preventing the illegal export of 463 containers comprising 22,688 tonnes of waste.
In addition, the regulators undertake rigorous checks to ensure businesses accredited as exporters of packaging waste under the Packaging Waste Regulations comply with their conditions of accreditation, this includes verifying evidence that exported waste is recycled. Conditions of accreditation have been tightened to require an exporter to provide the EA with full details of the final overseas reprocessing sites receiving packaging waste it exports and to provide access to export documentation to prove that the material reached or was accepted by these overseas reprocessing sites. In 2020 the EA cancelled the accreditation of 4 exporters and suspended 7 accreditations Government is consulting currently on reforms to the packaging producer responsibility system which includes proposals for new requirements on those exporting packaging waste for recycling.
We are also taking action to reduce the volume of waste generated in the first place. The Resources and Waste Strategy (RWS) for England, published in December 2018, sets out the Government’s plans to reduce, reuse, and recycle more plastic than we do now. Our target is to eliminate all avoidable plastic waste throughout the life of the 25 Year Environment Plan, but for the most problematic plastics we are going faster - which is why we have committed to work towards all plastic packaging placed on the market being recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2025. We also committed to introducing electronic waste tracking to help us understand where waste is within the system. That will help to tackle illegal movements and misdescription of waste.
We have made significant progress, by introducing one of the world’s toughest bans on microbeads in rinse-off personal care products and have significantly reduced the use of single-use carrier bags by the main supermarket retailers by 95% with our 5p charge. The charge increased to 10p and was extended to all businesses on 21 May 2021. In October 2020, we introduced measures to restrict the supply of plastic straws, plastic drink stirrers, and plastic-stemmed cotton buds. We will continue to review the latest evidence on problematic products and/ or materials to take a systematic approach to reducing the use of unnecessary single-use plastic products, including problematic packaging materials. Furthermore, from April 2022, plastic packaging that does not contain at least 30% recycled content will be subject to a tax of £200/tonne. Further details on the development of this tax can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/introduction-of-plastic-packaging-tax/plastic-packaging-tax#detailed-proposal.
Our Environment Bill will enable us to significantly change the way that we manage our waste and implement proposals from the Resources and Waste Strategy. The Bill includes powers to create extended producer responsibility (EPR) schemes; introduce deposit return schemes (DRS); establish greater consistency in the recycling system; better control the export of plastic waste; and to set new charges for other single-use plastic items. Our approach is focused on encouraging greater uptake of reusable alternatives and increasing supply and demand for secondary materials to be recycled in the UK. We have set new targets for plastic packaging to be recycled (to 2023) and we are currently consulting on a Deposit Return Scheme for drinks containers, an Extended Producer Responsibility Scheme for packaging, and our proposals for greater consistency in household and business recycling.
Statistics on Plastic Packaging Data (tonnes)
| Total placed on the market (PoM) | Total recycling | UK recycling | Export | % Exported |
2019 | 2,472,317 | 1,141,316 | 447,078 | 690,631 | 61% |
2018 | 2,361,000 | 1,034,410 | 384,848 | 649,562 | 63% |
2017 | 2,260,000 | 1,044,363 | 358,467 | 685,896 | 66% |
2016 | 2,260,000 | 1,015,226 | 330,731 | 684,495 | 67% |
2015 | 2,260,000 | 891,141 | 327,591 | 563,550 | 63% |
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the (a) income, (b) expenditure and (c) grant income of the Animal and Plant Health Agency for the 2021-22 financial year; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Baroness Prentis of Banbury
The budgeted income, expenditure and grant income for APHA is as follows:
Estimate (£m) | 2021/22 |
a) Operating Income | 76 |
b) Operating Expenditure | 289 |
c) Grant Income | 0 |
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the (a) the income, (b) expenditure and (c) grant income was for the Animal and Plant Health Agency in each of the last five financial years; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Baroness Prentis of Banbury
The income, expenditure and grant income for APHA is as follows:
Actuals (£m) | 2020/21 | 2019/20 | 2018/19 | 2017/18 | 2016/17 |
a) Operating Income | 64 | 72 | 72 | 74 | 62 |
b) Operating Expenditure | 263 | 248 | 245 | 227 | 217 |
c) Grant Income | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent estimate his Department has made of the number of official (a) vets and (b) inspectors available to certify export health certificates; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Baroness Prentis of Banbury
The numbers of Official Veterinarians (OVs) authorised to carry out export certification under each Official Control Qualification (Veterinary) (OCQ(V)), as recorded by the Animal and Plant Health Agency on 19/05/21, are listed below. Note that an OV must hold the relevant OCQ to carry out export health certification for a particular commodity type, and that OVs may hold more than one qualification.
Course | England | Wales | Scotland | Total |
AX - Avian Exports | 155 | 6 | 34 | 195 |
CA - Companion Animals | 6257 | 458 | 648 | 7363 |
EQ - Equine Exports | 509 | 21 | 21 | 551 |
EX - Exports General | 212 | 29 | 41 | 282 |
FA - Farm Animal Exports | 8 | 0 | 2 | 10 |
GX - Germinal Products Exports | 100 | 8 | 12 | 120 |
PX - Product Exports | 1518 | 176 | 224 | 1918 |
SX - Small Animal Exports | 331 | 40 | 83 | 454 |
UX - Ungulate Exports | 584 | 89 | 161 | 834 |
There are also 1505 Food Competent Certifying Officers working across Local Authorities who can certify some exports and therefore contribute towards certification capacity.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the potential effect on sales of organic goods of EU requirements for proof of compliance with sanitary and phytosanitary rules after 1 January 2020; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Baroness Prentis of Banbury
EU requirements for proof of compliance with sanitary and phytosanitary rules after 1 January 2020 affect all products regardless of whether they are organic or not. All organic imports from third countries, except from the EU, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland, must be accompanied by a GB Certificate of Inspection (COI) from 1 January 2021.
Organic imports from the EU, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland will need to be accompanied by a GB COI from 1 July 2021. We are implementing this phased approach for COIs from the EU, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland to provide additional time for ports to adjust to the new GB organic import process from 1 January 2021. This decision is in line with a number of other phased approaches designed to simplify import procedures in the short term.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of securing an equivalency agreement with the EU for sales of organic food and drink products into (a) Northern Ireland and (b) the EU from 1 January 2021; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Baroness Prentis of Banbury
On 2 December 2020, the European Commission confirmed that the UK’s six organic control bodies will be recognised as equivalent for the purpose of trade in organics. It will allow British businesses to export organic food, drink, ingredients and feed to Northern Ireland and the EU until 31 December 2021.
On 12 October, Defra notified the European Commission of its intention to recognise the EU as equivalent for the purpose of trade in organics until 31 December 2021. These arrangements will allow EU and British consumers to continue to have access to the wide choice of organic food they currently enjoy, and British businesses will be able to continue to produce the high quality organic foods for which we are internationally renowned.
While this is a temporary solution, we remain of the view that a bilateral organics equivalence agreement is the best basis for our future organics trading relationship with the EU.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to require his Department and its agencies to provide a payroll deduction service to allow staff to save more easily with a credit union; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Baroness Prentis of Banbury
Defra does not currently have the facility for employees to join a credit union through payroll deductions. Staff can make arrangements to contribute to a credit union via direct debit.
The department is currently investigating options for updating the employee benefits offer for staff, including the potential for payroll deducted savings and affordable borrowing through credit unions.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
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 is taking to tackle the environmental damage caused by fast fashion; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
In line with the Resources and Waste Strategy for England (2018) we are taking a range of actions to tackle environmental damage and promote greater circularity in the fashion and textiles sector.
Through the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) we are supporting an industry-led voluntary agreement - the Sustainable Clothing Action Plan (SCAP) 2020. This has seen SCAP signatories reduce their water and carbon footprints by 18.1% and 13.4% respectively per tonne of clothing between 2012 and 2018. Work is currently underway to develop an ambitious new phase of the voluntary agreement for the future, focussed on enhancing the circularity of the sector.
We have committed to consult on extended producer responsibility and other policy measures for five priority waste streams, including textiles, by 2025, with two of these to be completed by 2022. We are also exploring regulatory requirements on product design and consumer information in order to support durable, repairable, and recyclable clothing and textiles. The Environment Bill includes clauses that will enable resource efficient product design and information requirements to be set through secondary legislation.
In addition, we are supporting the textiles reuse and recycling sector, which has experienced particular challenges due to the Covid-19 pandemic, through the WRAP-administered Resource Action Fund.
Our detailed plans to promote sustainable practices in the textiles sector will be included in a new Waste Prevention Programme, to be published for comment in the next few months.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of levels of air pollution in areas surrounding schools in (a) Harrow West and (b) London; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
The Mayor of London is responsible for air quality in the capital and has reserve powers under the 1995 Environment Act to enable this.
Local authorities are required to review and assess local air quality and to take action where there are high levels of air pollution. Local authorities have discretionary powers to restrict car access to schools and enforce anti-idling laws outside schools.
The Government’s Air Quality Grant Programme provides funding to local authorities for projects in local communities to tackle air pollution and reduce emissions which may include action targeting schools. The Government has awarded over £64 million in funding since the air quality grant started in 1997.
The Government has put in place a £3.8 billion plan to improve air quality and reduce harmful nitrogen dioxide emissions. Our Clean Air Strategy sets out measures we are taking to improve air quality and reduce emissions of pollution, improving public health.