Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he is taking steps to reduce the production of single-use plastics in the UK.

In December, Defra outlined a four point plan for tackling plastic waste, including working with retailers and manufacturers to cut the total amount of plastic in circulation.

The recently published 25 Year Environment Plan announced the extension of the 5p plastic bag levy, which aims to reduce single-use plastics. The charge on plastic bags has already taken nine billion bags out of circulation, reducing usage by 83%. Shortly before the publication, our world-leading ban on the manufacture of personal care products containing plastic microbeads came into force.