To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs for a timeframe for the proposed plan to eliminate plastic pollution, as promised in New Decade, New Approach.

My Department does not have a formal timeframe but I will share with you what my Department is doing to work towards this commitment within New Decade, New Approach.

An Executive paper will be tabled shortly proposing an action plan to eliminate unnecessary single-use plastics in the government estate. If agreed by the Executive, the plan will be introduced in October 2020 and changes to purchasing contracts with suppliers will be phased in over the following 12 months until October 2021.

The Department is now into Year 3 of the Tackling Plastic project with Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful and Sustainable NI providing public messages through social media and giving ongoing support and guidance to local businesses, schools and local councils.

DAERA implemented the Carrier Bag Levy for Northern Ireland in 2013. Our latest published figures show that 1.5 billion carrier bags have already been removed from circulation across Northern Ireland. I am presently considering this levy as there is evidence that reusable bags are only being used once.

DAERA has joined the other UK Administrations in becoming a member of the UK Plastics Pact this year. In contributing to the pact, the Department is directly funding the work of its organisers, the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), to develop and disseminate approaches to reduce the environmental impact of plastic packaging. Membership of the pact also enables the Department to use its contact networks to share innovations, data, analyses and reports with businesses.

I am continuing to work closely with my Ministerial colleagues across the UK to introduce a range of legislative drivers to help tackle plastic pollution. These include the HM Treasury plastic packaging tax, due to be introduced in April 2022 to encourage the use of recycled plastic instead of new plastic in packaging. Work is also ongoing with other UK administrations on plans to introduce both an Extended Producer Responsibility scheme and a Deposit Return Scheme both of which will contribute to minimising the amount of plastic packaging produced whilst maximising the amount of plastic packaging waste collected for recycling. Further consultations on the proposals are planned for early 2021.

The actions outlined are forming the building blocks of a plan to keep plastic in the economy and out of the environment. I trust this provides reassurance that both I and my officials are engaged with the problem of eliminating plastic pollution.