David Simmonds (Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner) (Con) [V]:

According to research compiled by the Local Government Association, the manufacturers of food packaging in the UK contribute only about 10% of the cost of recycling their products. Does my right hon. Friend agree that as part of the efforts that we are undertaking to improve the recycling of waste food packaging, we need to see the manufacturers of that packaging contribute much more towards the costs of recycling their products, in line with the contribution they make in other countries, rather than leaving our council tax payers to foot most of the bill?

I very much agree with my hon. Friend on this matter. As he will be aware, the Environment Bill introduces the concept of extended producer responsibility, and we are consulting on that at the moment. In future, the manufacturers and the users of packaging for products will take responsibility for recycling it.

The Litter Strategy sets out how we intend to work with the relevant industries to tackle certain types of problematic litter, such as fast food packaging, and our Resources and Waste Strategy set our strategic approach to prevent, detect and deter waste crime, including fly-tipping.

The Resources and Waste Strategy commits us to introducing mandatory electronic waste tracking, subject to consultation. This will help to ensure that waste is dealt with appropriately and will reduce the incidence of waste crime and fly-tipping.

No formal assessment has been made of the potential merits of introducing auditable tracking for packaging. However, exploratory discussions suggest that the burden on businesses and enforcement bodies, along with data protection issues, would mean the costs could outweigh the benefits of such a policy.

We are exploring other measures to tackle littered packaging. Our recently published consultation on extended producer responsibility for packaging proposes that producers who make or handle consumer-facing packaging should fund the full net-costs associated with the packaging they place on the market once it becomes waste, including litter-related costs. We have also recently launched our consultation on the deposit return scheme, which will incentivise proper disposal of in-scope material by consumers. We will continue to engage with producers as these measures come forward.

In recent years, to support local authorities in their enforcement, Defra has bolstered local authorities’ powers to tackle fly-tipping, such as by introducing the power to issue fixed penalty notices (including to householders who pass their waste to an unlicensed waste carrier) and to stop and seize vehicles of suspected fly-tippers. We have also introduced new powers to allow penalties to be issued to the keeper of a vehicle from which litter is thrown (recognising that it is often difficult to identify the individual who threw the litter), and published guidance on the use of enforcement powers for littering and related offences.

While compostable materials may be seen as a solution to reduce the impact of waste, they can also be more environmentally damaging than non-compostable materials if disposed of incorrectly. The Government is concerned that, some claims about the compostability of plastic-based products cannot be verified.

In order to consider impacts carefully, Defra and BEIS published a call for evidence to help us consider the development of standards or certification criteria for bio-based, biodegradable, and compostable plastics, and to better understand their effects on the environment and our waste management system. We are currently analysing responses to the call for evidence and will publish the Government’s response shortly.

Our Resources and Waste Strategy sets out our ambition to transition to a circular economy by keeping resources in the system for longer and extracting maximum value from them, before recycling materials when they can no longer be reused. We have recently published consultations on introducing Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging and introducing a Deposit Return Scheme for drinks containers. These consultations will inform policy that will transform the economic incentives on packaging producers by encouraging an increase in the amount and quality of unavoidable plastic packaging that is recycled or reused, so driving up recycling rates and helping to move us towards a circular economy.

We are also preparing to launch a second consultation on increasing the consistency of materials collected for recycling from households, businesses and other organisations in England, which will seek views on the collection and disposal of compostable and biodegradable materials and the recycling of plastic films.

The UK Plastics Pact is targeting plastic film as a coordinated effort involving the entire value chain to fix the system to create a circular economy for single use plastic films. Last year the Plastics Pact published a roadmap ‘Creating a Circular Economy for Flexible Plastic Packaging’, which sets out the high-level actions that need to be taken by each part of the value chain. The new roadmap sets out five key areas where efforts should be focused in order to develop a circular economy for flexible plastics. These are: designing packaging that can be recycled and sorted; capitalising on existing front of store collection points; implementing kerbside collection by all local authorities; investing in sorting and reprocessing capacity and capabilities; and ensuring strong and stable end markets for recycled flexible plastic packaging.

The Environment Bill requires the Government to set at least one long-term, legally binding target in four priority areas, including Resource Efficiency and Waste Reduction. This will not be focused on increasing the use of compostable plastics, instead the target will ensure a holistic approach to all materials. These targets will be set following a robust, evidence-led process that includes seeking independent expert advice, a role for stakeholders and the public, and parliamentary scrutiny.

The Government has made no specific assessment of the potential merits for reducing single-use plastics by allowing larger e-liquid bottles for e-cigarettes.

Regardless of size, e-liquid bottles can and should be recyclable. The Government's landmark Resources and Waste Strategy sets out our plans to eliminate avoidable plastic waste over the lifetime of the 25 Year Plan and drive up recycling rates. We will also be introducing a new world-leading tax on plastic packaging which will apply to businesses producing or importing plastic packaging which doesn't meet a minimum threshold of at least 30% recycled content, subject to further consultation, from April 2022. Together with the government's reform of the Packaging Producer Responsibility system, this will transform the economic incentives of producers by encouraging more use of recycled plastic and driving up recycling rates.

The Department of Health and Social Care is undertaking a post implementation review of the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016 that provides the regulatory framework for e-cigarettes. This includes a public consultation, which closed on the 19 March, which allowed the opportunity for people to share their opinions on the regulations. The Government will publish its response later this year.

Following support in response to the first consultation on increasing the consistency materials collected for recycling in England, the Environment Bill states that local authorities must make arrangements for a core set of recyclable waste streams to be collected from households. This core set includes: paper and card; plastic; metal; glass; food waste; and garden waste.

We are preparing to publish a second consultation on recycling consistency this spring, which will seek further views on the materials to be included under the definition of each recyclable waste stream, which will include seeking views on the inclusion of food and drink cartons, and plastic films. We will also seek further views on transition timelines for local authorities in the upcoming consultation.

Defra has been developing proposals for a deposit return scheme (DRS) for drinks containers using further evidence and ongoing engagement with stakeholders. As part of this work, we have conducted further cost benefit analysis on the inclusion of glass in a DRS. The interim findings demonstrate that the inclusion of glass in the long term has a higher value than not including glass, given the potential for increased collection and recycling rates and the resulting greater reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

Officials have also continued to meet with the glass industry on several occasions to discuss the inclusion of glass in a DRS. British Glass is a member of our DRS Industry Working Group and sits on Defra’s Packaging and Collections Working Group which provides input on the department’s collections and packaging reforms.

An Impact Assessment will be published alongside the second consultation which is due to be published shortly, which assesses the costs and benefits of a DRS, including the costs to business and the expected impact a DRS will have on recycling rates.

The Government’s commitment to introducing a DRS is part of its commitments to reform producer responsibility systems to incentivise producers to take greater responsibility for the environmental impacts of their products.

In our 2018 Resources and Waste Strategy we committed to taking actions to help stimulate private investment in reprocessing and recycling infrastructure, as this will help to meet the target of 65% of municipal waste to be recycled by 2035.

In 2019 we consulted on such actions. Namely, a deposit return scheme (DRS) for drinks containers, extended producer responsibility (EPR) for packaging and consistency in recycling collections, which will be legislated for using primary powers granted by the Environment Bill. These measures will stimulate investment in improved collection and sorting, increasing the supply of higher quality materials needed to support investment in domestic reprocessing infrastructure. In addition, HM Treasury's Plastic Packaging Tax will increase the demand for recycled plastic, further stimulating investment in domestic reprocessing.

We plan to undertake second consultations on a DRS for drinks containers, packaging EPR, and consistency in recycling collections this spring.

Flexible packaging will be considered as part of EPR and consistency consultations. Initial analysis suggests flexible packaging could make an important contribution to plastic packaging recycling rates, and therefore reduce the amount of this material that would otherwise be sent to landfill or energy from waste facilities. We will be setting out our policy proposals and supporting analysis in relation to flexible packaging in these consultations.

In our 2018 Resources and Waste Strategy we committed to taking actions to help stimulate private investment in reprocessing and recycling infrastructure, as this will help to meet the target of 65% of municipal waste to be recycled by 2035.

In 2019 we consulted on such actions. Namely, a deposit return scheme (DRS) for drinks containers, extended producer responsibility (EPR) for packaging and consistency in recycling collections, which will be legislated for using primary powers granted by the Environment Bill. These measures will stimulate investment in improved collection and sorting, increasing the supply of higher quality materials needed to support investment in domestic reprocessing infrastructure. In addition, HM Treasury's Plastic Packaging Tax will increase the demand for recycled plastic, further stimulating investment in domestic reprocessing.

We plan to undertake second consultations on a DRS for drinks containers, packaging EPR, and consistency in recycling collections this spring.

Flexible packaging will be considered as part of EPR and consistency consultations. Initial analysis suggests flexible packaging could make an important contribution to plastic packaging recycling rates, and therefore reduce the amount of this material that would otherwise be sent to landfill or energy from waste facilities. We will be setting out our policy proposals and supporting analysis in relation to flexible packaging in these consultations.

We want to see recycling of plastic film increased. The Environment Bill states that waste collection authorities in England must arrange for the collection of a core set of materials, including plastics, from households and businesses.

We are launching a consultation in Spring 2021 on proposals to introduce plastic films into kerbside collections as part of the plastic recyclable waste stream. The inclusion of plastic films will simplify recycling for householders and will contribute to achieving the ambitious plastic packaging targets that will be placed on producers through our proposal for Extended Producer Responsibility.

Reducing the use of single use plastic packaging is important. In the 2018 Resources and Waste Strategy we set out our ambitions to double resource productivity and eliminate avoidable waste by 2050. To help us achieve this, we are reforming the packaging producer responsibility regulations and developing Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for packaging.

EPR for packaging will see packaging producers paying for the waste management costs associated with the packaging that they place on the market. This will ensure producers are thinking about the necessity of any packaging they use. Where producers use single-use packaging, it is important that it is easily collected and recycled. EPR for Packaging will see producers’ fees modulated (varied) to account for certain criteria, including recyclability. Producers who use easily recyclable packaging will pay less than those who use hard to recycle, or unrecyclable, packaging.

In developing EPR for packaging we will also take consideration of how EPR could be used to encourage packaging reuse and refill systems. We will consult on our proposals this year. This consultation will set out our proposals for the timing of implementing the reforms.

Industry, however, is already acting. The UK Plastics Pact is jointly founded between The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) and the Ellen McArthur Foundation and is supported by the Government. The Pact brings together organisations from across the plastics supply chain with four key targets for 2025 that aim to reduce the amount of plastic waste generated. One of these targets is to eliminate single-use plastic packaging. Our proposed reforms will support the Pact in achieving those targets. Through the pact, work has been done to increase the sale of unpackaged products. The WRAP Fresh Produce Guidance was published in November 2019 which includes advice for retailers to help determine if fresh produce can be provided loose.