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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, in the context of the Environment Plan’s target to eliminate all avoidable plastic waste by 2042, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of that proposed plastic reduction target on reducing the level of plastic pollution.

The ambition in the 25 Year Environment Plan to eliminate all avoidable plastic waste by 2042 is for England only as this is a devolved matter.

No overall assessment has been made; however, if we can achieve the ambition, including through policies set out in the Resources and Waste Strategy for England, it will significantly reduce the amount of plastic pollution.

My department is carrying out an evaluation of the policies in the Resources and Waste Strategy to establish their effectiveness and identify where we might need to go further to achieve our ambitions.