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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps are being taken to encourage all major supermarket chains to introduce reduction targets for plastics.

The Resources and Waste Strategy, published in December 2018, included the ambition to work towards all plastic packaging placed on the market being recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2025 and to eliminate avoidable plastic waste over the lifetime of the 25 Year Environment Plan.

Industry is already taking action. In April last year, the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation launched their world-leading UK Plastics Pact, with support from the Government, and all the major supermarkets have signed up to it. The Pact brings these organisations together with four key targets for 2025 that aim to reduce the amount of plastic waste generated. We are currently consulting on a series of reforms, including reform to the existing packaging waste regulations, which will support supermarkets in achieving those targets.

The Government is also working with retailers and WRAP to encourage their efforts to reduce waste and to explore the introduction of plastic-free supermarket initiatives in which fresh food is sold loose, giving consumers the choice.