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 take steps in response to the Food and Agriculture Organisation's recommendation that the agricultural sector switch to EN 17033 biodegradable thin mulch films to reduce plastic contamination in soil.

In April 2021 we published our response to the call for evidence on the need for standards for bio-based, biodegradable, and compostable plastics. Concerns were raised regarding the extent to which plastics marketed as biodegradable actually biodegrade, as such our focus is on increasing reuse and recycling of plastics.

Defra has commissioned an external expert organisation to look into plastic within digestate and compost. This short project, ending early this year, includes searching existing literature on the potential risks of compostable and non-compostable plastic fragments added to agricultural soil from digestate or compost, and will highlight further evidence gaps. We will carefully consider the findings of this project, and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations recommendations in considering next steps and any potential actions in this area.