Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
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 29 June 2026 to Question 12919, what support her Department is providing to tier two local authorities in Norfolk to help resume small waste electrical and electronic equipment and battery recycling services halted as a result of a recycling centre fire.
Answered by Mary Creagh
I refer the hon. Member to the response given to him on 29 June 2026 to PQ UIN 12919.
Defra officials and the Environment Agency (EA) are engaging with Norfolk County Council regarding the challenges it is facing dealing with backlogs of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) at Norfolk's recycling centres to help Norfolk councils to resume WEEE and batteries recycling services.
The EA's focus has been on Norfolk's Household Waste Recycling Centre contractors to help resolve issues on their sites.
Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what support her Department provides is providing to Norfolk councils to help resume small waste electrical and electronic equipment and battery recycling services halted as a result of a recycling centre fire.
Answered by Mary Creagh
Defra officials and the Environment Agency (EA) are engaging with Norfolk County Council regarding the challenges it is facing resuming WEEE and batteries recycling services.
Local EA teams are providing advice, including advising on Regulatory Position Statements to help restore full services as quickly and safely as possible, whilst maintaining environmental compliance. Interim measures have already enabled the continued collection of large domestic appliances.
Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate her Department has made of the UK’s capacity to (a) process and (b) recycle electric vehicle batteries over the next 20 years.
Answered by Mary Creagh
Defra has not formally made this estimate, however as part of the department’s ongoing review of the UK batteries regulations we are considering waste electric vehicle battery arisings and the capacity that will be required to process them.
Under current regulations, take back, treatment and recycling of waste industrial batteries, which includes electric vehicle batteries, are statutory requirements under the Waste Batteries and Accumulators Regulations (2009). Producers of industrial batteries are required to take back waste batteries and must then ensure they are delivered to and accepted by an approved battery treatment operator or an approved battery exporter, for treatment and recycling either in or outside the United Kingdom. Producers must, by law, finance this treatment.
Businesses are taking steps to capture the economic opportunity in recycling electric vehicle batteries, and the Department of Business and Trade’s DRIVE35 funding programme recently awarded £18.5m grant funding to Altilium in Plymouth, who expect to be able to process 24,000 electric vehicle batteries per year.
Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
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 electric vehicle batteries were (a) reused, (b) recycled and (c) disposed of via landfill or incineration in the UK in the most recent 12-month period for which data are available.
Answered by Mary Creagh
Defra does not currently collect this data. Current statutory reporting requirements for waste batteries do not distinguish between reuse and recycling, or between different types of industrial battery, which includes electric vehicle batteries. It is against the law to dispose of waste industrial batteries in a landfill or by incineration.
Taking into account the expected increases in end-of-life electric vehicle batteries over the coming years and to support optimal end-of-life outcomes for waste electric vehicle batteries, Defra is currently engaging with industry and other stakeholders to inform a review of the UK batteries regulations.
Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
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 5 February 2026 to Question 108923, whether she plans to provide transitional arrangements to councils going through Local Government Reorganisation.
Answered by Mary Creagh
Local authorities with a transitional arrangement are listed in the commencement regulations with the date by which they must introduce food waste collections from households. These were applied where long-term waste disposal (mechanical biological treatment and energy from waste) contracts present a barrier to introducing separate food waste collections. All local authorities without a transitional arrangement should provide a food waste service for every household by 31 March 2026.
Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to encourage food surplus redistribution in the baking industry.
Answered by Mary Creagh
We recognise the environmental, economic and social benefits of preventing food waste and redistributing surplus food to organisations who can use it. Redistribution is second only to prevention in Defra’s Food and Drink Waste Hierarchy, which includes the expectation that all businesses should have plans for redistribution in place if any surplus arises.
We fund the groundbreaking UK Food and Drink Pact (formerly the Courtauld Commitment), a voluntary agreement with industry to tackle food waste. Through the Pact, Defra regularly engages a working group of industry and redistribution sector organisations to develop best practice on how to redistribute surplus quickly and safely and overcome the barriers to redistribution.
We also fund the Food Waste Reduction Roadmap, which helps businesses to identify and measure their surplus and waste and take action to reduce it. We support this Target Measure Act approach as it enables food businesses to get more surplus to the redistribution sector.
Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking with local authorities going through Local Government Reorganisation to ensure that food waste collections align with new boundaries.
Answered by Mary Creagh
Amended section 45A of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 requires local authorities in England to arrange for the separate collection of food waste from all households, at least once a week. All local authorities should provide a food waste service for every household by 31 March 2026, unless they have been given a transitional arrangement where long-term waste disposal (mechanical biological treatment and energy from waste) contracts present a barrier to introducing separate food waste collections. Affected local authorities are listed in the commencement regulations with the date by which they must introduce food waste collections from households. Defra will continue to engage with affected local authorities including on any potential impacts of local government reorganisation.
During the local government reorganisation process, it is essential that councils continue to deliver their business-as-usual services and duties, including waste collection, which remain unchanged until reorganisation is complete. There is a suite of general continuity regulations for local government reorganisation made under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 which ensure smooth transfer to new unitary councils. These general regulations provide transitional and supplementary arrangements, so that the councils can undertake specific functions to enable a successful move to the single tier of local government.
Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of inflation and supply chain pressures on capital costs for local authorities delivering domestic food waste collection services; and whether she plans to review funding allocations.
Answered by Mary Creagh
The cost modelling for the new burdens funding formula, which took place in 2023, took inflation into account by conducting market research on the most recent industry prices on all aspects being funded. WRAP (the Waste and Resources Action Programme) provided us with unit price assumptions, regularly review those and use their network to inform projections on how inflationary pressure may impact further prices.
We are aware of concerns about pressure on supply chains for vehicles and containers and are engaging with key stakeholders across the sector and welcome input to help us understand the challenges and ensure successful delivery. Additionally, we are working with WRAP to scope interventions to address bottlenecks in supply chains.
Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
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 adequacy of capital funding provided to local authorities for the implementation of domestic food waste collections to meet the costs of depot expansion and redevelopment required to accommodate the service including vehicle parking, washing facilities, storage and staff welfare provision.
Answered by Mary Creagh
We have run an appeals process for the funding for weekly food waste collections, which has allowed local authorities to seek financial support in circumstances where their depot space needs to be modified. These are currently being considered, and the outcome will be communicated to local authorities in due course.
Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
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 her Department has made of the adequacy of the current statutory thresholds at which a local authority is required to declare an Air Quality Management Area.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Air Quality Objectives set under the Air Quality (England) Regulations 2000 set out the statutory thresholds that determine the need to declare an Air Quality Management Area. These continue to drive local authority action on NO2 and other pollutants. We remain committed to continuous improvement and will keep air quality objectives under review.