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 meet with the hon. Member for Denton and Reddish to discuss tackling microplastic pollution in the River Tame.

Defra and the Environment Agency (EA) are working with academia, National Highways, and the UK water industry to improve our understanding of the scale of the microplastic pollution problem, to identify the key sources, and to evaluate the efficiency of different wastewater treatment processes in removing microplastics from wastewater effluent before it is discharged to the water environment.

My officials met with Professor Jamie Woodward earlier this year to discuss his latest study on microplastics in the River Tame. We will consider the outcomes of this study, alongside other new and emerging research in this field, when developing policy options for tackling microplastic pollution.

The EA has made no assessment of the level of microplastic pollution in the River Tame specifically. There is currently no statutory requirement for the EA to undertake this activity. However, in 2018 the EA undertook an investigation on the River Tame to identify whether there were any permitted activities based in the Tame catchment with the potential to discharge microplastics or plastic into the watercourse, which led to recommendations to an operator in the catchment. This operator has since surrendered its permit and relocated.

I invite the hon. Member to write to me with regard to meeting to discuss microplastic pollution in the River Tame.