Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent discussions she has had with her counterparts in (a) India and (c) Africa on UK waste exports to those countries; and what assessment her Department has made of the health and environmental effects of the methods used to dispose of or process such waste.

I have had no recent discussions with counterparts in India or Africa on UK waste exports to those countries and my Department has made no assessment of the health and environmental effects of the methods used to dispose of or process such waste.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is responsible for international engagement on waste exports.

The Department for International Development is supporting better management of waste produced domestically within India and some African countries. This is through our £13 million programme on Tackling Waste and Plastic Pollution, through the UK’s £250 million of support to the current replenishment of the Global Environment Facility, and through support to other multilaterals assisting countries with waste management, such as the World Bank’s National Ganga River Basin Project in India.