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9 Jun 2003 : Column 582W—continued

Hedgerows

Mr. Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many miles of hedgerows there are on the Isle of Wight (a) in total and (b) protected by the Hedgerows Regulations 1997. [105946]

Mr. Meacher: We have no figures for the total length of hedgerows on the Isle of Wight, nor do we have actual figures for the length of hedgerows protected by the Hedgerows Regulations 1997. However, research carried out in 1999 indicated that more than 70 per cent. of countryside hedgerows may be protected by the Regulations by virtue of the fact that they form an integral part of a pre-1845 field system—a criterion that, when met, allows local planning authorities to refuse applications for removal. As the Regulations also lay down other criteria that can be used to prevent removal, the proportion protected may well be greater than 70 per cent., across the country as a whole.

Ingram Works

Mr. Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent estimate the Environment Agency has made of the amount of waste tonnage being disposed of weekly at the waste disposal and landfill site operated by Harry Sanders Ltd. at Ingram Works in Leeds. [116328]

Mr. Meacher: The most recent waste return submitted by the operator to the Environment Agency indicates

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that the site received 1,370.5 tonnes of waste in the period from 1 January 2003 to 31 March 2003. This equates to a weekly input of 114.2 tonnes.

International Whaling Commission

John Barrett: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the outcomes of the annual International Whaling Commission meeting in Japan. [117101]

Mr. Morley: The outcomes of the 54th annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC), held in Japan in May 2002, were detailed in my letter of 10 July 2002 to hon. Members of the House. Copies of the letter were placed in the Library of the House.

OSPAR Commission

Mr. McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how often the countries which belong to the OSPAR Commission have met since July 1998 on matters within its auspices; what subjects they discussed; and what issues or matters were implemented. [116124]

Mr. Meacher: The OSPAR Commission, comprising representatives of each of the contracting parties, meets annually. It is supported by six committees (hazardous substances, biodiversity, eutrophication, radioactive substances, offshore oil and gas production, and assessment and monitoring) and a number of sub-committees, each of which also meets annually. The Commission has discussed progress on each of the six issues each year, and has agreed Decisions, Recommendation, guidelines and joint work programmes as appropriate in order to implement the OSPAR strategies. The Summary Records produced after each meeting provide a publicly available account of issues discussed and measures agreed—they may be found at: www.ospar.org

Mr. McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps have been taken by the countries forming the OSPAR Commission to agree a baseline from which to measure whether reductions in radioactive discharges have taken place. [116125]

Mr. Meacher [holding answer 3 June 2003]: In 2001, OSPAR's Radioactive Substances Committee set up working groups to recommend baselines for discharges, concentrations and dose. The final reports of the working groups were considered by the Committee at its meeting in February 2003. The Committee has been unable to reach agreement on the discharges baseline. It is expected that the issue will be resolved at the OSPAR Commission meeting in June this year.

Waste Management

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what total weight of waste she estimates will be (a) recycled, (b) landfilled, (c) incinerated and (d) treated in other ways in the year 2010; and what percentage change on current figures this represents for each of the options. [114254]

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Mr. Meacher: No estimates have yet been made of what weight of waste will be dealt with in each of the ways listed in 2010. The amount of waste treated under the different waste management options will depend on the actions of householders, waste disposal and collection authorities, business and others, in response to the measures Government have, or intend to, put in place including the targets listed below, to reduce waste growth and increase levels of re-use and recycling.

The Landfill Directive requires reductions in the landfill of bio-degradable municipal waste to 75 per cent. of the total amount of bio-degradable municipal waste produced in 1995 by 2010, equivalent to 11.2 million tonnes (including the four year derogation that the UK has indicated that it intends to use).

By 2010, the Government's target is to recycle or compost 30 per cent. of householdwaste.

The Government's target for commercial and industrial waste is to reduce the amount landfilled in 2005 to 85 per cent. of 1998 levels.

Mr. Bill O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the cost was for external consultants to assist the Environment Agency with the production and guidance relating to waste management in the years 1998 to 2002; and what proportion this expenditure represented of the Environment Agency's total budget for waste management. [115772]

Mr. Meacher: The Agency spend on external consultants for the production of waste regulation related guidance in each of the years 1998–2002 is approximately £1.5 million per annum. This represents 2.0 per cent. of the Agency's total budget for waste management in the 2002–03 year.

YearTotal Budget (£m)Proportion (per cent.)
1998–9965.92.3
1999–200069.52.2
2000–0172.82.0
2001–0273.92.0
2002–0376.82.0

Mr. Sayeed: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what plans she has to set (a) commercial waste reduction and (b) commercial waste recycling targets for (i) local authorities and (ii) industrial sectors; [115941]

Mr. Meacher: The Government have set a target to reduce, by 2005–06, the amount of commercial and industrial waste going to landfill to 85 per cent. of 1998 levels. Current estimates suggest that we are on course to meet this target.

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The Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 1997 (as amended) set targets for the recovery and recycling of packaging waste and provide incentives to minimise the amount of packaging handled. Between 1999 and 2002, the amount of packaging waste sent to landfill fell from 5.7 to 4.4 million tonnes, although the 2002 figure is still provisional at this stage.

The Government have entered into a voluntary agreement with the newspaper industry, which has seen recycled content of newspapers increase to well over the target of 60 per cent. last year. The Government are looking to enter into more agreements of this kind.

The Government fund Envirowise, a business support programme dedicated to making businesses more resource efficient, saving money by minimising waste. Last year alone, Envirowise helped UK businesses to achieve annual cost savings of over £175 million, with a reduction of 1.6 million tonnes of solid waste. They also fund the Sustainable Technologies Initiative that provides funding for research and development projects aimed at minimising waste at source.

There are no plans to set local authority targets for commercial waste, since they have no statutory duty to collect commercial waste unless asked to do so by the business.

Mr. Sayeed: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps her Department is planning to take to enable local authorities to refuse to dispose of waste that has been imported from other authorities to be landfilled within their areas of responsibility; and if she will make a statement. [115945]

Mr. Meacher: There are no plans to enable local authorities to refuse to dispose of waste imported from other authorities. The Government have issued guidance to local authorities on preparing municipal waste management strategies, Guidance on Municipal Waste Management Strategies (DETR March 2001); http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/waste/management/guidance/mwms/index.htm and on preparing waste local plans, Planning and Policy Guidance Note 10 on 'Planning and Waste Management'. Under that guidance, local authorities must take account of the proximity principle—which suggests that waste should generally be disposed of as near to its place of production as possible—in determining the Best Practicable Environmental Option for managing waste.

Mr. Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what materials are classified as hazardous waste for the purposes of licensing waste disposal and landfill sites. [116202]

Mr. Meacher: Landfill sites in England and Wales are regulated by the Landfill (England and Wales) Regulations 2002. In those Regulations, "hazardous waste" is defined as any waste as defined in Article 1(4) of the Hazardous Waste Directive (Directive 91/689/EEC). For most licensed waste disposal sites other than landfill in the UK the term special waste would be used as defined in Regulation 2 of the Special Waste

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Regulations 1996. The Government are currently reviewing the Special Waste Regulations in order to bring the terms special and hazardous into line.

Mr. Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many prosecutions have been brought by the Environment Agency for breaking conditions of management site licences in each year since the Agency was established; and how many were successful. [116203]

Mr. Meacher: The Environment Agency's National Enforcement Database (NEDS) was inaugurated on 1 April 1999. The Agency is able to provide national data on enforcement actions from that date, as follows:

Total number per calendar year of prosecutions for contravening the conditions of a waste management licence contrary to section 33 (6) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990

Number
1999 (from 1 April)17
200023
200125
200228
2003 (to date)9

All prosecutions were successful with the exception of one acquittal in 2002.

Mr. Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the difference between special waste and hazardous waste is for the purpose of licensing waste disposal sites. [116329]

Mr. Meacher: Special waste is the term used in the UK for hazardous waste and is defined in Regulation 2 of the Special Waste Regulations 1996. Hazardous waste is the term defined in the Hazardous Waste Directive (91/689/EEC) as a waste featuring on the European hazardous waste list. This list was recently revised and the European Commission brought the new list into force on 1 January 2002. At present, the Special Waste Regulations are still extant in Great Britain and the term "special" waste is still used in many waste management licences. However, some legislation such as the landfill regulations, already refer to "hazardous" waste as defined in the Hazardous Waste Directive. This means that some wastes not defined as special wastes in UK legislation would still have to dealt with in accordance with the requirements for "hazardous" wastes if disposed of to landfill. The Government are also reviewing the Special Waste Regulations and as part of the review the intention is to replace the term "special" with "hazardous", and to transpose the revised hazardous waste list.

Mr. Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many modifications to waste management site licences since 1997 have been regularisation of existing practices at waste disposal and landfill sites. [116332]

Mr. Meacher: The Environment Agency carry out initiated modifications without a fee from the licensee and they are usually for the purpose of bringing sites into line with new or existing regulatory standards, e.g. Financial Provision, record keeping.

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On this basis, figures are available but only back as far as 1999–2000:



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