This week, I have written to Environment Secretary Steve Barclay regarding the Global Plastics treaty and the need to reduce plastic pollution. You can read the full letter below.

Rt Hon Steve Barclay MP
Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Dear Secretary of State,

Global Plastics Treaty

According to the United Nations Environment Programme, every year 450 million metric tonnes of plastic waste is produced worldwide. Only a small share of plastic is recycled – around 9 per cent worldwide in 2019 according to the OECD. The rest is landfilled, incinerated, burned in open pits, or dumped into open waters. This trend will continue without major intervention from world leaders.

As you are aware, negotiations for a Global Plastics Treaty are underway, with the goal of completing this process by the end of the year.

The UK has the opportunity to be an environmental leader on the world stage as part of this process, and to influence the agenda for the rest of the world. To provide this leadership we must radically reducing the plastic we produce and commit to stop dumping our plastic waste on other countries.

A strong Global Plastics Treaty has the potential to reverse the trend of the past 70 years by keeping oil and gas used to produce plastic in the ground and stopping the relentless production of new plastics.

I urge you to use your influence to ensure the Global Plastics Treaty delivers the change needed to secure a cleaner, safer planet for us and for future generations by:

1. Limiting plastic production and use.
2. Keeping oil and gas in the ground rather than creating new plastic pollutants.
3. Ensuring wealthy countries fuelling the plastic crisis lead the way and support poorer countries to tackle the issues plastic has caused.
4. Pushing big brands to drastically reduce single-use plastics and focus on refillable and reusable products.
5. Holding polluting companies accountable.
6. Demanding full transparency on plastic production, use, import and export.

I look forward to your reply.

Yours sincerely,
Angela Crawley MP