AQW 25176/17-22

Mr John Blair
Alliance Party
South Antrim

Tabled Date: 03/11/2021
Answered On Date: 11/11/2021
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs what recent steps his Department has taken to address microplastic pollution of waterways.

Answer:

Many microplastics originate from the breakdown of larger plastics and you will be aware of the steps I am taking to contribute to the Executive commitment to create a plan to eliminate plastic pollution – I announced my intention to introduce legislation to ban problematic single-use plastics, I have held a call for evidence to prepare the plan to eliminate plastic pollution and I recently launched a consultation to consider measures to reduce the consumption of single-use plastic drinks cups and food containers. Clearly any measures to reduce plastic pollution will also reduce the generation of microplastics.

Specifically on microplastics, my Department is funding two post graduate research projects into microplastics one on the impact of microplastics on commercially important fisheries species in Northern Ireland and the second on microbial remediation of microplastics within peat, soils, and coastal and riverine sediments.

In addition, following an announcement by my predecessor Minister McIlveen that the Department would bring forward regulations to ban the manufacture and sale of personal care products containing tiny pieces of plastic known as microbeads, the Environmental Protection (Microbeads) Regulations (Northern Ireland) were introduced in 2019. This will have helped remove many tonnes of this plastic from our environment.