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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to increase the provision for the recycling of medicine blister packets.

HM Government’s 25 Year Environment Plan sets out our ambition to eliminate all avoidable plastic waste. We want all local waste authorities in England to collect the same core set of materials for recycling, including plastics. Our approach is focused on increasing both the supply of materials for recycling and demand for secondary materials to be used in the manufacture of new products and packaging.

Blister packs are difficult to recycle due to the mix of different materials they are made from and, as such, tend not to be collected through kerbside recycling services. There are currently no plans to specifically increase the provision for the recycling of medical blister packs. However, the introduction of Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging will place financial responsibility on businesses for the cost of managing packaging waste generated by households, including medical blister packets. This provides a strong financial incentive for businesses to make better, more sustainable decisions in their design and use of packaging, and to take greater responsibility for the environmental impacts of the packaging they use.