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Incinerators
Mr. Sayeed: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what controls the Government have implemented on emissions from incinerators in the last three years; and if she will make a statement. [8089]
Mr. Meacher: Existing municipal solid waste incinerators (MSWIs) are regulated by the Environment Agency under the Environmental Protection Act 1990. Within the last three years the Government have implemented EC Directive 96/61 on Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC). All new MSWIs must now obtain an IPPC permit before they can operate. Existing MSWIs must obtain the new form of permit by 31 August 2005.
The Environment Agency has also recently varied the authorisations for existing MSWIs to reduce the dioxin emission limit (10 fold) to 0.1 ng/m3. This is ahead of the timetable required by the recently adopted Waste Incineration Directive.
Mr. Sayeed: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment the Government have made of levels of dioxin emissions from incinerators in the last 12 months; and if she will make a statement. [8088]
Mr. Meacher: The Environment Agency's Pollution Inventory is compiled from data submitted annually by operators of IPC-processes in England and Wales, including municipal solid waste incinerators. The level of dioxins and furans emitted from municipal solid waste incinerators in the year 2000 is recorded in this inventory as 1.1g ITEQ. This compares to a level of 413g ITEQ in 1995.
Municipal Waste
Mr. Sayeed: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) how much municipal waste has been collected in each year since 1996; and if she will make a statement; [8084]
- (2) what assessment the Government have made of the increase of annual municipal waste in the United Kingdom in the last five years; and if she will make a statement. [8093]
Mr. Meacher: Data are available for England and Wales for the last four years. The total amount of municipal waste collected is as follows:
| Year | Thousand tonnes |
|---|---|
| 1996–97 | 25,979 |
| 1997–98 | 27,166 |
| 1998–99 | 27,912 |
| 1999–2000 | 29,332 |
The increase in municipal waste over this period is nearly 13 per cent. 2000–01 data are currently being collected from local authorities.
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Mr. Sayeed: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what percentage of UK household waste was disposed of through landfill in the last 12 months; and if she will make a statement. [8094]
Mr. Meacher: The latest available data for England and Wales show that 81 per cent. of municipal waste was disposed of through landfill in 1999–2000. Household waste is approximately 90 per cent. of municipal waste.
Under the EU Landfill Directive, the UK must divert substantial quantities of waste away from landfill over the coming years. We have put in place a national strategy, 'Waste Strategy 2000', for managing our waste and resources more effectively and will be introducing a system of tradable landfill permits to reduce the amount of biodegradable municipal waste that goes to landfill. The Government have also set tough statutory performance standards for recycling and composting of household waste, requiring local authorities to double the amount recycled or composted within three years and nearly treble it within five years. The setting of these statutory targets is expected to lead to an increase in the availability of kerbside recycling.
Slaughtermen
Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what are the qualifications and licensing arrangements required of (a) professional slaughtermen and (b) persons slaughtering animals in herds affected by foot and mouth disease; what training arrangements were in place for forces personnel engaged to slaughter animals during the foot and mouth crisis; and what (i) licensed and (ii) otherwise qualified professional supervision was in place for casual slaughtermen engaged during the foot and mouth crisis. [7499]
Mr. Morley: Requirements for the training and licensing of slaughterers are laid down in the Welfare of Animals (Slaughter or Killing) Regulations 1995. Everyone engaged in the slaughter or killing process must have the knowledge and skill necessary to perform the tasks humanely and efficiently in accordance with the regulations. Most slaughterers need to be licensed in accordance with Schedule 1 of the regulations, but there are a number of exemptions from this requirement.
Members of the armed forces were trained before becoming involved in the foot and mouth cull, and were supervised by qualified veterinary surgeons. Outside of licensed slaughterhouses, the legislation is enforced by Veterinary Officers of the State Veterinary Service. In addition, the RSPCA had an open invitation to visit major culling sites and visited Great Orton several times.
Recycling
Mr. Sayeed: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what percentage of councils in the United Kingdom have separate recycling collections; and if she will make a statement. [8082]
Mr. Meacher: The latest available data for England and Wales for 1999–2000 show that local authorities operate a variety of collection schemes, through civic amenity sites, bring sites and kerbside collection. The
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percentages of local authorities that operate such schemes, over some or all of their area, for different materials are as follows:
| Percentage | |
|---|---|
| Paper and card | 97 |
| Glass | 97 |
| Compost(22) | 43 |
| Scrap metal/white goods | 55 |
| Textiles | 90 |
| Cans(23) | 87 |
| Plastics | 31 |
| Other(24) | 74 |
(22) Includes organic materials (kitchen and garden waste) collected for centralised composting schemes from households via kerbside schemes or taken by householders to civic amenity sites. Home composting is not included.
(23) Includes ferrous and aluminium cans
(24) Includes oils, batteries, aluminium foil, books and co-mingled collections
Mr. Sayeed: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what measures the Government have taken to meet their target of recycling two thirds of all household waste by 2015; and if she will make a statement; [8080]
- (2) what steps the Government have taken to encourage businesses (a) to recycle waste and (b) to use recycled materials in the last three years; and if she will make a statement. [8081]
Mr. Meacher: "Waste Strategy 2000" sets a target to recycle or compost at least 33 per cent. (one third) of household waste by 2015. It also sets out targets for doubling the recycling and composting of household waste in three years and nearly tripling it in five years. We have underpinned these targets by setting statutory performance standards for each local authority to achieve by 2003–04 and 2005–06. In due course we will consider setting further Statutory Performance Standards for later years taking account of technological advances.
In Spending Review 2000 we provided substantial financial support to local authorities to assist with delivering these targets including a substantial uplift in the relevant Standard Spending Assessment block, £140 million ring-fenced fund for waste and recycling; £40 million for the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP); and £220 million for Private Finance Initiative waste schemes. We expect that approximately £50 million of New Opportunities Fund moneys will also be available over the next two years to support community sector work on recycling.
WRAP has been set up to promote sustainable waste management by removing barriers to waste minimisation, re-use and recycling, and by working with businesses to create stable and efficient markets for recycled materials and products.
We have also imposed measures under the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 1997 (as amended), requiring certain businesses which handle packaging to recover and recycle specified amounts of packaging waste each year based on the amount of packaging handled by their business.
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Packaging Regulations also include incentives for businesses to minimise the amount of packaging they use and businesses are being encouraged to look closely at the type of materials being used in the manufacture of their product and consider the benefits of using greater quantities of recyclate.
The recovery and recycling targets for 2001 under the packaging Regulations are 56 per cent. for recovering and 18 per cent. for material-specific recycling of packaging waste. We are currently consulting on recovery and recycling targets for packaging waste in 2002.
Unadopted Sewers
Paddy Tipping: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent research she has commissioned into the scale of and problems associated with unadopted sewers. [8849]
Mr. Meacher: A research contract will shortly be let to ascertain the extent and condition of unadopted sewers, identify any problems and produce costed solutions. It is expected to take up to 18 months.
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