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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress the Government has made in incentivising greater reuse or recyclability in plastic packaging.

This is a devolved matter. The answer applies to England only, though the government works with the Scottish Government on such regulations.

Following on from the Resources and Waste strategy, the Government launched several consultations on reforming packaging waste regulations, introducing a deposit return scheme for drinks containers, and increasing consistency in recycling collections for both households and business. These consultations closed on 13 May. The aim of reforming the packaging producer responsibility system is to ensure that packaging producers fund the full net cost of managing the packaging they place on the market once it becomes waste. This provides a strong financial incentive for packaging producers to make better, more sustainable decisions at the design stage and during manufacture, and to take greater responsibility for the environmental impacts of their products.

We also consulted on introducing a tax on plastic packaging containing less than 30% recycled content, announced by the Chancellor at the last Budget – this consultation closed on 12 May and the responses are currently being analysed. A Government response will be published in due course. More information on the consultation can be found at: https://consult.defra.gov.uk/environmental-quality/resource-and-waste-and-plastic-packaging-tax-consu-1/

In April last year, 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. Which include action to eliminate problematic or unnecessary single-use plastic packaging items. Our proposed reforms will support supermarkets in achieving those targets.