Asked by Fleur Anderson, MP for Putney, about what steps the government is taking to meet Target 7 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework on working towards eliminating plastic pollution, Mrs Pow described UK bans on problematic plastics and noted the coalition membership.
EPS containers
More plastic bans come into force from October and will cover products such as expanded and extruded polystyrene (EPS) food and drinks containers.
The minister said said: “The UK is a leading voice in tackling plastic pollution and, as a founding member of the High Ambition Coalition to End Plastic Pollution, we are calling for an ambitious target to end plastic pollution under a new legally binding treaty.
“We have already banned or restricted a number of problematic plastic items, including single-use plastic straws, stirrers and cotton buds, as well as microbeads in rinse-off personal care products. We will also ban the supply of single-use plastic plates, bowls, and trays to the end-user and ban the supply of single-use plastic cutlery and single-use plastic balloon sticks and expanded and extruded polystyrene food and drinks containers, from October 2023.”
Coalition
The High Ambition Coalition to End Plastic Pollution describes itself as a “group of like-minded countries that has taken the initiative to form form a coalition of ambitious countries following the adoption of resolution 5/14 ‘End Plastic Pollution: Towards an International Legally Binding Instrument’ by the UN Environment Assembly in March 2022.
The High Ambition Coalition is co-chaired by Norway and Rwanda. It has called upon all Member States and stakeholders to take “immediate actions to reduce plastic pollution and take preparatory steps to strengthen domestic policy approaches, including for national action plans, in anticipation of the international treaty on plastic pollution”.
On plastic waste, recycling and reuse it says that each Party should be required to take effective measures to encourage the reuse of plastic products, such as containers and bottles, and/or other reuse systems.
Targets
Targets are required for the reuse of plastic products under the Coalition’s plan. And each Party should be required to take effective measures so that plastic wastes are collected, sorted and recycled in an environmentally sound manner, taking into account guidance and quality requirements to promote and make available for the market, non-toxic secondary materials. “These measures could include targets, minimum requirements, fees, extended producer responsibility schemes, and deposit refund schemes”.
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