Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether a UK-based beverage manufacturer can accept returns of all recyclable product packaging to offset their Extended Producer Responsibility levy.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Existing provisions in the pEPR regulations only allow for offsets from disposal cost fees for:
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether beverage industry manufacturers will be required to pay the Extended Producer Responsibility levy if they sell their products in the on-trade market with proof from the vendor of a non-council-funded recycling scheme.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The current regulations do not allow for this. This is because there are real challenges in effectively applying and compliance monitoring such an exemption across all sectors and producer types, resulting in a significant risk of misreporting and fraud. Government however recognises the strong views of stakeholders and is looking again at the household packaging definition. A new period of stakeholder engagement on this issue will commence shortly.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight 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 ban bottom trawling within more English Marine Protected Areas.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Surrey Heath on 13 November 2024, PQ 13315.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
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 increase the number of highly protected marine areas in English waters.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra is undertaking a review of the English Marine Protected Area network to look at whether sites are in the right places with the right protection. The review will explore ways to update protection and management approaches to better address the nature crisis and improve climate change resilience, while supporting wider Government priorities. Highly Protected Marine Areas are part of the scope of this review and whilst we currently have no plans for designating additional HPMAs we will assess what we have learned so far from the first 3 sites designated in 2023.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to her Department's guidance entitled Simpler recycling: workplace recycling in England, published on 29 November 2024, whether (a) waste collection businesses, (b) local authorities and (c) businesses will be fined if recyclable material is (i) intentionally and (ii) unintentionally placed in residual waste office bins.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency (EA) is the regulator for Simpler Recycling for Non-Household waste and are committed to supporting businesses – both waste producers and collectors – in understanding their duties. As a Regulator they are required to have regard to the Regulator’s Code which requires them to support growth, engage with business, take a risk-based and proportionate approach to regulation, and to help those they regulate get it right.
Where contamination is identified, the EA will take a pragmatic and proportionate approach to enforcement, providing advice and guidance in the first instance. To take enforcement action (in accordance with their enforcement and sanction policy) the EA would need to be satisfied that an offence had been committed. Where this is identified, a compliance notice would be served and further non-compliance could be pursued as a criminal offence through the courts. The EA does not have power to serve a fixed penalty notice (i.e. civil sanctions).
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 4 March 2025 to Question 32576 on Fires: Air Pollution, whether WRAP has made an assessment of the potential impact of the burning of household rubbish in the gardens of residential properties on air pollution.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
WRAP has not made an assessment of the potential impact of the burning of household rubbish in the gardens of residential properties on air pollution. However, the National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory (NAEI) includes estimates of existing emissions from burning household waste and garden waste outdoors.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department plans to ban deliberate breeding of domestic cats with non-domestic felid species.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
The Government welcomes the Animal Welfare Committee’s Opinion on the welfare implications of current and emergent feline breeding practices. We are carefully considering the Committee’s recommendations.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential implications for its policies of the Animal Welfare Committee’s report entitled Opinion on the welfare implications of current and emergent feline breeding practices, published on 19 December 2024; and whether he plans to ban the breeding of cats with extreme characteristics which could have a detrimental effect on (a) their health and (b) that of their offspring.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner
The Government welcomes the Animal Welfare Committee’s Opinion on the welfare implications of current and emergent feline breeding practices. We are carefully considering the Committee’s recommendations.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to his Department's guidance entitled Simpler recycling: workplace recycling in England, published on 29 November 2024, whether offices are now required to rinse or wash empty food containers and bottles to place in recyclable waste.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Yes, as of 31 March 2025 all workplaces with ten or more full-time equivalent employees, including offices, must separate out recycling (plastic, metal, glass, paper and card) and food waste for recycling. Recyclables should be rinsed to remove any food or other contaminants to ensure the materials can be recycled.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 12 February 2025 to Question 28295 on Wood-burning Stoves: Health Hazards, what the (a) terms of reference and (b) timetable is of his Department’s review of options for reducing emissions from domestic burning.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is committed to taking action to clean up our air and protecting the public from the harm of pollution. Domestic solid fuel burning accounted for 20% of PM2.5 emissions in 2023, with indoor wood burning accounting for 11% of total PM2.5. The Government concluded a rapid review of the existing Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP23) and published a statement of the rapid review’s key findings on 30 January 2025. Later in 2025 we will publish a revised Environmental Improvement Plan, to protect and restore our natural environment. It will be a clearer, prioritised plan for achieving environmental outcomes, including improving air quality through action on PM2.5.