The Government recognises growing concerns around microplastics, including microfibre release from textiles, and is committed to building a strong evidence base to inform effective interventions to protect human health and the environment. It is supporting research and engagement with stakeholders, including on the potential role of technologies such as microfibre filters.

The Government is concerned about the risks microplastics in our water environment may pose to public health and to the environment. Regulations for products and appliances are covered by the Ecodesign for Energy-Related Products Regulations 2010 and are routinely reviewed by the Government, and previous collaborative work with the water industry found that microplastics from clothing and textiles make up a small proportion (around 1%) of the total microplastics found within wastewater treatment works. There is no work planned to amend the relevant regulation for this product at the present time. Defra is continuing to work with water companies to investigate microplastics detected during wastewater treatment and their potential to enter the receiving aquatic environment.

The Government is concerned about the possible risks to public health and wildlife from microplastics which enter the environment from the atmosphere and road runoff and from washing machines.

Previous collaborative work with the water industry found that microplastic from clothing and textiles make up a small proportion (around 1%) of the total microplastics found within wastewater treatment works.

We are continuing to investigate microplastics and the risks they may have to public health and to the environment. Defra is working with water companies to investigate microplastics detected during wastewater treatment and their potential to enter the receiving aquatic environment.

Defra officials gratefully received information which the honourable member kindly provided in her recent letter to me. The information was reported by a washing machine filter technology group describing solutions to tackling microplastics and microfibres as a product of washing textiles and clothing. Officials are currently assessing the details.

The Government is concerned about the risks microplastics in our water environment may pose to public health and to the environment. Defra is working with water companies to investigate microplastics detected during wastewater treatment and their potential to enter the receiving aquatic environment.

Government recently funded an external rapid evidence assessment to better understand the costs, benefits, and efficiencies of installing filters in washing machines. The filters aim to trap textile microplastic fibres during the laundry cycle and before discharge to sewer networks and wastewater treatment works. The assessment concluded further evidence was needed to determine how to avert additional costs incurred by consumers of new washing machines with filters, and the consumer’s sustainable disposal of used filters. Industry are currently conducting research and developing proposals to develop filters that meet this criteria, and Government are happy to review any research in this area.

A water industry investigation of the levels and types of microplastics entering a range of UK wastewater treatment works reported that conventional treatment can remove 99% of microplastics by number and 99.5% by mass.

In Defra’s Plan for Water, there is a commitment for industry and businesses to develop low cost, effective microfibre filters in washing machines and encourage their use.

Defra commissioned an evidence assessment to understand the efficiencies, costs and benefits of installing filters in washing machines to trap microplastic fibres shredded from clothing during washing cycles. The report showed that filters demonstrated a range of efficiencies and costs associated with them. We recommended that filter manufacturers collaborate with the washing machine industry to develop and implement standardised tests to provide unequivocal performance data for the relevant government departments to consider. We await industry’s proposals.

In Defra’s Plan for Water, there is a commitment for industry and businesses to develop low cost, effective microfibre filters in washing machines to capture microfibre and encourage their effective use.

This approach is informed by the evidence that shows that there is not a sufficient benefit to the environment for legislating the installation of microfibre-capturing filters in all new washing machines. Recent analyses showed an estimated increased cost from between £30 to £122 for a microfibre filter per machine and user behaviour around disposal of captured microfibres can make render the filters ineffective.

We have conveyed this to industry colleagues, and we look forward to receiving a response which will help us to progress the issue.

The Government has already taken significant steps to tackle plastic pollution (e.g. microplastics), including restricting the supply of several single-use plastics through introducing a plastic packaging tax from April 2022; restricting the supply of plastic straws, plastic drink stirrers, and plastic-stemmed cotton buds; and preventing billions of plastic microbeads from entering the ocean each year by introducing a ban on microbeads in rinse off personal care products.

The majority of microfibres are removed through water treatment and analysis of the evidence available to date does not show that there is a sufficient benefit to the environment that can justify legislation to mandate the microfibre filters in new washing machines with prices ranging from £30 to £122 per machine, dependent on manufacturer and whether the filters are disposable or reusable. Defra’s Plan for Water therefore includes a commitment for industry to develop low cost, effective microfibre filters on washing machines and encourage their effective use. We have met industry colleagues and posed this challenge, and we look forward to any proposals they are able to share when they are able to do so.

The Government has already taken significant steps to tackle plastic pollution (e.g. microplastics), including restricting the supply of several single-use plastics through introducing a plastic packaging tax from April 2022; restricting the supply of plastic straws, plastic drink stirrers, and plastic-stemmed cotton buds; and preventing billions of plastic microbeads from entering the ocean each year by introducing a ban on microbeads in rinse off personal care products.

The majority of microfibres are removed through water treatment and analysis of the evidence available to date does not show that there is a sufficient benefit to the environment that can justify legislation to mandate the microfibre filters in new washing machines with prices ranging from £30 to £122 per machine, dependent on manufacturer and whether the filters are disposable or reusable. Defra’s Plan for Water therefore includes a commitment for industry to develop low cost, effective microfibre filters on washing machines and encourage their effective use. We have met industry colleagues and posed this challenge and we look forward to any proposals they are able to share when they are able to do so.

The Government has already taken significant steps to tackle plastic pollution (e.g. microplastics), including restricting the supply of several single-use plastics through introducing a plastic packaging tax from April 2022; restricting the supply of plastic straws, plastic drink stirrers, and plastic-stemmed cotton buds; and preventing billions of plastic microbeads from entering the ocean each year by introducing a ban on microbeads in rinse off personal care products.

The majority of microfibres are removed through water treatment and analysis of the evidence available to date does not show that there is a sufficient benefit to the environment that can justify legislation to mandate the microfibre filters in new washing machines with prices ranging from £30 to £122 per machine, dependent on manufacturer and whether the filters are disposable or reusable. Defra’s Plan for Water therefore includes a commitment for industry to develop low cost, effective microfibre filters on washing machines and encourage their effective use. We have met industry colleagues and posed this challenge and we look forward to any proposals they are able to share when they are able to do so.

The Government has already taken significant steps to tackle plastic pollution (e.g. microplastics), including restricting the supply of several single-use plastics through introducing a plastic packaging tax from April 2022; restricting the supply of plastic straws, plastic drink stirrers, and plastic-stemmed cotton buds; and preventing billions of plastic microbeads from entering the ocean each year by introducing a ban on microbeads in rinse off personal care products.

The majority of microfibres are removed through water treatment and analysis of the evidence available to date does not show that there is a sufficient benefit to the environment that can justify legislation to mandate the microfibre filters in new washing machines with prices ranging from £30 to £122 per machine, dependent on manufacturer and whether the filters are disposable or reusable. Defra’s Plan for Water therefore includes a commitment for industry to develop low cost, effective microfibre filters on washing machines and encourage their effective use. We have met industry colleagues and posed this challenge and we look forward to any proposals they are able to share when they are able to do so.

The Government has already taken significant steps to tackle plastic pollution (e.g. microplastics), including restricting the supply of several single-use plastics through introducing a plastic packaging tax from April 2022; restricting the supply of plastic straws, plastic drink stirrers, and plastic-stemmed cotton buds; and preventing billions of plastic microbeads from entering the ocean each year by introducing a ban on microbeads in rinse off personal care products.

The majority of microfibres are removed through water treatment and analysis of the evidence available to date does not show that there is a sufficient benefit to the environment that can justify legislation to mandate the microfibre filters in new washing machines with prices ranging from £30 to £122 per machine, dependent on manufacturer and whether the filters are disposable or reusable. Defra’s Plan for Water therefore includes a commitment for industry to develop low cost, effective microfibre filters on washing machines and encourage their effective use. We have met industry colleagues and posed this challenge and we look forward to any proposals they are able to share when they are able to do so.

The UK Government has taken significant steps to tackle plastic pollution (eg. microplastics), including restricting the supply of several single-use plastics through introducing a plastic packaging tax from April 2022; restricting the supply of plastic straws, plastic drink stirrers, and plastic-stemmed cotton buds; and preventing billions of plastic micro-beads from entering the ocean each year by introducing a ban on microbeads in rinse off personal care products.

Defra have been working closely with industry to understand the costs of installing microfibre filters on washing machines with prices ranging from £30 to £122 per machine dependant on manufacturer and whether the filters are disposable or re-useable. Defra’s Plan for Water includes a commitment for industry to develop low cost, effective microfibre filters on washing machines and encourage their effective use.

The Plan for Water outlines our position that we will expect industry to develop low cost, effective microfibre filters on washing machine and encourage their effective use. With the plan being published only recently, we are now considering the best actions for its implementation. As a first step, we will look to manufacturers to reduce costs and to provide appropriate evidence of the value of microfibre filters to persuade consumers to invest in them and use them correctly.

The United Kingdom is a world leader in tackling plastic pollution, including microplastics. Monitoring of marine litter by the Marine Conservation Society, funded by Defra, tells us that over the last seven years the total litter count on British beaches has decreased significantly - the total median litter count in 2021 was almost three times lower than in 2016.

We are continuing to contribute to the development of a new legally binding treaty on plastic pollution, that aims to end plastic pollution by 2040. We want to tackle microplastic pollution wherever possible which is why we introduced a microbead ban and a tax on plastic bags.

We recently announced in the Plan for Water that we will change the law to ban the sale of wet wipes containing plastic, subject to public consultation. We will also support the Water UK communications campaign to ‘Bin the Wipe’ and write to the relevant producers and advertising authorities regarding the labelling of wet wipes as ‘flushable’.

The Plan for Water also outlined our position that we will expect industry to develop low cost, effective microfibre filters on washing machine and encourage their effective use. With the plan being published only just last month, we are now considering the best actions for its implementation. As a first step, we will look to manufacturers to reduce costs and to provide appropriate evidence of the value of microfibre filters to persuade consumers to invest in them and use them correctly.

The UK Water Industry Research project (performed by UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology) reported in April 2022 that wastewater treatment plants remove 99% of microplastics by number and 99.5% by mass. The Water Industry National Environment Programme (WINEP) includes over £7.39 million of commitment from the water industry to further research microplastics removal through wastewater treatment processes to sludge, which may be a source of microplastics to final effluent discharges.

An additional investigation sits within the Chemicals Investigation Programme looking at biosolids and microplastics to groundwater. For microplastic monitoring in surface waters and sediments, a pilot study has been completed to develop sampling and analytical protocols that could be used to determine the quantities, loads and types of microplastics and tyre-wear particles in surface waters and sediments. This report will be available post July 2023.

We have also funded research to examine wider sources of microplastics, including tyres and textiles. This research will help to inform future policy. Technical experts from the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas) have also been leading the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment to develop a new indicator for microlitter (including microplastics) in seafloor sediments. This will help us to track progress in reducing plastics in the environment at a regional scale.

We want to tackle microplastic pollution wherever possible, which is why we introduced a microbeads ban and a tax on plastic bags. I am aware that my hon. Friend has campaigned for filters in washing machines, but, as he will know, they can be costly to install. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has outlined plans for the use of more filters, but I will ensure that my hon. Friend gets the meeting he needs with the relevant Minister to discuss this important matter further.