Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department has taken to reduce its use of single-use plastics .

​On 27 February , the Foreign Secretary announced that the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) would eliminate avoidable single-use plastics from its UK operations by the end of 2018, and from its global operations by 2020. It is the first British Government Department to announce such a ban. This ambitious target makes the FCO a leader in the fight against plastic pollution not just in the UK, but globally too. Since January the FCO has taken steps to remove avoidable single-use plastic from its UK catering outlets. For example, in its UK canteens, the FCO has switched plastic cutlery and food packaging and cups to biodegradable alternatives and provided additional glasses and china mugs to reduce waste. In early April in the UK we introduced a 50p 'latte levy' on single-use coffee cups which has increased the use of reusable cups from 3% of total hot drinks sales to 46%. In the year to date, our actions have reduced plastic waste from our UK catering operations by about 40% compared to the same period last year. We have requested all Heads of Mission overseas take similar action and are working with our suppliers to further reduce avoidable single-use plastics to enable us to meet the Foreign Secretary's target.