Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative). It was answered on Monday, 15 September 2025.

Plastic Pollution

Question: I take this opportunity to congratulate successive Governments on their efforts to reach agreement for a global plastic pollution treaty. What are this Government doing to reduce the use of plastics in the economy, mindful of the fact that the Government set up a Circular Economy Taskforce in March, one of the top five priorities of which was reducing the use of plastics? How often has the task force met and what progress has it made to reduce the use of plastics, so that we can at least control our own use in the absence of a global treaty?

Answer: We are taking a number of steps domestically to tackle plastic pollution. First, we have banned the supply of single-use vapes which, when littered, can introduce plastic, among other substances, into the environment. We are also working with the devolved Governments to bring forward a ban across the UK on wet wipes that contain plastic. The collection of packaging reforms that we have brought in is the first step in the transition to the circular economy for all materials, including plastic. For example, the deposit return scheme includes plastic drinks containers. We have also extended producer responsibility for packaging, so that producers are incentivised to consider reducing the packaging that they use. Increasing the circularity of the plastic sector will reduce the need to produce virgin materials, which will reduce the plastic pollution associated with that. I will have to write to the noble Baroness on the number of times that the task force has met.

Secondary information

Type: Oral question
Reference: 848 c1882
Session: 2024-26
Oral question type: 1st Supplementary
Chamber / Committee: House of Lords chamber
Subjects: International cooperation Pollution Pollution control Recycling Packaging Plastics Supermarkets
Link: View this Oral question on hansard.parliament.uk