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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the impact of the plastic waste export regime on recycling figures in a) Newcastle-under-Lyme, b) Staffordshire and c) England.

Waste plastic can generally only be exported from the UK for recycling. Where the UK cannot currently recycle materials economically, including plastic waste collected in Newcastle Under-Lyme, Staffordshire, and the wider country, exports can help ensure those materials are recycled rather than landfilled. No specific assessment has been made of the adequacy of the impact of the plastic waste export regime on recycling figures in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire or England.