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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will invite (a) Ghana’s Environmental Protection Agency, (b) textile traders, (c) recycling operators and (d) designers to participate in a (i) collaborative pilot and (ii) formal working group on international textile value chains.

The UK Government is committed to transitioning to a circular economy domestically, and support this transition globally, to deliver growth, green jobs, and promote efficient and productive use of resources including in the textiles sector. The UK is modernising its approach to international development, moving from an aid donor to an investor. We want to partner with countries like Ghana to create economic growth and trading opportunities for both our countries.

The UK and Ghana share a long-standing mutual relationship built on trust, openness and partnership, and this is something we will continue to strengthen together.

While the department does not currently have any specific plans to support and co-finance textile recycling and waste infrastructure in Ghana, the UK Jobs and Economic Transformation (JET) programme has mobilised over £125 million in investment across key sectors like garments, automotive, and pharmaceuticals, creating 5,000+ jobs and enabling exports of textiles across Africa and to the UK. Through the JET programme, the UK is supporting Ghana to deliver a Textiles and Garment Policy. The draft policy is currently under public consultation before submission to the Ghanaian cabinet. The policy includes prescriptions for regulatory and other policy incentives to encourage private investment into recycling plants or other investment in support of a circular economy. This aims to enhance public-private partnerships.