Parliament's Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee today
launches a new inquiry on the
circular economy and issues a call for evidence on issues
around the Global Plastics Treaty.
Much of the UK economy is still linear, based on the principles
of using and disposing of products and the resources used to make
them. This inquiry will examine the progress of the UK government
in bringing about a more circular economy, and the work of key
regulators to ensure that waste is sustainably managed.
The inquiry will first focus on the Global Plastics Treaty. The
fifth and final round of negotiations for a new Global Plastics
Treaty (Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee or INC-5) was
intended to finish in November 2024 in South Korea. However, the
talks ended without an agreement and another round of talks
(INC-5.2) is scheduled to take place between 5 and 14 August 2025
in Switzerland.
The EFRA Committee will hold an evidence session on plastic
pollution in July, in which MPs will explore the key proposed
elements of the Treaty, the UK's leadership on the issues, and
the barriers that need to be overcome to achieve an agreement in
the August talks.
Throughout the span of this long-term inquiry the Committee is
likely to consider a range of topics including international
cooperation and waste exports and packaging reforms such as
extended producer responsibility, deposit return schemes, as well
as simpler recycling and the plastic packaging tax.
MPs will likely also examine efforts to lessen the environmental
impact and use of landfill and incineration, to reduce the use of
single use items, to encourage more ecological product designs,
and to tackle waste crime.
Ahead of the evidence session in July, and to inform its work
focused on the Treaty, the Committeeinvites written evidence
submissions on any or all of the below points, by
23:59 on Wednesday 18 June.
Call for evidence
- What were the main reasons for the
INC-5 talks in November 2024 failing to reach agreement on a
Global Plastics Treaty?
- What are the main areas of
agreement and divergence between parties?
- How might remaining areas of
disagreement be overcome at INC-5.2 in August 2025?
- What would represent a successful
outcome, and what are the prospects for this?
- What can the UK Government do to
demonstrate leadership and drive ambition with regards to the
proposed Treaty?
Chair of the EFRA Committee, MP,
said:
“The growth of plastic pollution has been a blight on our
shores for decades. It is a global issue that requires
international cooperation. Ahead of the negotiations in August,
our Committee will look at how the Government could take a lead
on this and what a successful outcome from the talks would look
like.
“Plastic pollution is just one symptom of the broader problem
of our linear economy, which is causing environmental damage as
well as economic waste. In this broad inquiry, we will scrutinise
efforts to bring about a more circular economy and progress on
developing circular economies across different sectors, including
agriculture and organic wastes such as food.”
ENDS
Further information
- The predecessor EFRA Committee conducted a wide-ranging
inquiry into Plastic Waste in the last Parliament, with the final
report being published
in November 2022. The Committee found that global plastic
waste was forecast to almost triple by 2060 and noted that an
Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) had been
established under the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA) to draft a
legally binding instrument to address the problem. The
Committee welcomed the fact that the then Government had signed
up to the UNEA initiative and that the UK was a founding member
of the ‘High Ambition Coalition', but also urged the Government
to push for legally binding targets in the final version of the
Treaty.
