Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans his Department has further to help reduce dependency on single-use plastics items.
We published our 25 Year Environment Plan on 11 January that stated our ambition to eliminate all avoidable plastic waste and, in particular, the waste from single-use plastics. The steps we will be taking to do this include introducing a DRS subject to consultation; exploring the introduction of plastic-free aisles by retailers; exploring how we can develop our producer responsibility schemes to give producers more incentives to design more resource efficient products; and looking at the compulsory extension of the carrier bag charge to small retailers.
In addition the Treasury published a call for evidence on 13 March that is seeking views on how the tax system or charges could reduce the amount of single-use plastics we use and, as a consequence, the waste that arises from that use by reducing the unnecessary production of these items; increasing reuse wherever feasible; and improving the levels of recycling.