My Lords, I am very glad to join in this debate on fly-tipping, spilling over into the world of plastic disposal. I am a farmer, and the NFU has voiced its support, as the noble Baroness, Lady Bakewell, mentioned, because it is a huge problem in some areas, along with all anti-social behaviour. Around where I am, the anti-social thing tends to be people taking things away rather than bringing things along, but that is another topic. They come and chop down trees to have bonfires and so on.
Perhaps the noble Baroness, Lady Bakewell, can tell us what she has discovered about restrictions on having CCTV. It is very easy nowadays. We have done it already. We have a movement-sensitive camera that can be set up anywhere. It will record whatever can be seen in infra-red so that you can do it at night. I do not know if there is a restriction in law that prohibits this being used as evidence, but it would be an important thing to do.
9.15 pm
The grouping of this amendment has spilled over into the question of plastic disposal. As a farmer, I was interested to see how it affects the farming industry. Plastic packaging waste from agriculture represents approximately 1.5% of the overall volume of plastic packaging in the waste stream in England. The message I got from the NFU was that it recognises the pressing issue of plastic waste and supports the direction of travel of many retailers to either eliminate plastic packaging or replace it with compostable and recyclable material.
However, when looking to reduce plastic use, it is important that food safety and quality are not compromised. It is also important that the costs of replacement packaging are not merely passed down to the primary producer. Multilayer plastic films act as barriers to oxygen, water and aroma and are important for protecting food items such as fresh fruit and vegetables. Limiting the performance of specialised packaging could lead to an increase in food waste, which is already an issue in itself. The NFU and its membership have been working closely with retailers and WRAP to reduce waste on farms. Our involvement with Courtauld 2020 has allowed great strides in the understanding of food waste and steps to curb it.
A great deal of plastic, as anybody who has visited a farm nowadays will see, is used to preserve feedstuffs for animals. We have great quantities of, very often, black plastic. There is a recycling route for it but, of course, there are great difficulties with contamination. These are things that will gradually need to be overcome.