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18 Jun 2003 : Column 288W—continued
PVC
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent research has been conducted into the impact on the environment of the production and disposal of PVC-u; and what chemicals may be released (a) upon disposal and (b) during production. [119087]
Mr. Morley: A number of studies into the impact of PVC-u on the environment have been carried out including:
- "The Behaviour of PVC in Landfill", for the European Commission DGXI (2000);
"The Life Cycle Assessment of PVC and Alternatives", for the ex- Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions (2000).
The European Commission is currently conducting a rigorous assessment of all published PVC life-cycle studies to ensure the availability of sound data on which to develop future policy in this area. This is expected to be published by the end of 2003 and will include information on the impacts of production and disposal.
(a) Disposal—PVC is generally disposed of either to landfill or to incineration. In both cases there is no specific separation of PVC from other waste streams such as municipal waste.
Incineration of PVC has the potential to produce a number of chemicals such as hydrogen chloride, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and small quantities of dioxins and furans. Incineration of waste is regulated under Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC), and tight limits are imposed on releases from incinerators to ensure the protection of health and the environment.
The PVC polymer is generally considered to be stable under landfill conditions, but there is a potential for losses of plasticisers and stabilisers from flexible PVC to
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occur. The behaviour of PVC in landfill is a complex subject and further information may be obtained from the above European Commission report at:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/waste/studies/pvc/landfill.pdf
The Landfill Directive 1999/31/EC requires that landfills comply with a number of technical standards regarding the protection of soil and water, including leachate collection, bottom sealing and gas emission control.
(b) Production—during production of the vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) there is the potential for emissions of VCM, chlorine, ethylene, ethylene dichloride, HCI and other chlorinated by-products to occur. Due to this pollution potential, production has been regulated for many years under Integrated Pollution Control (IPC) and will be regulated under IPPC. During compounding and transformation of PVC, there is the potential for release of the anti-oxidants, plasticisers and pigments used, but closed processes mean that any release would be small.
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate she has made of the weight of consumer goods known to contain PVC (a) disposed of by (i) landfill, (ii) incineration and (iii) other means, (b) recycled and (c) reused, in the last year for which figures are available. [119088]
Mr. Morley: Information on waste arisings held by the Environment Agency are based on the Agency's special waste database, which comprises records of each load of special waste moved, and on the commercial and industrial waste survey.
PVC is not classified as a special waste and so does not appear on the special waste database. The commercial and industrial waste survey is a sample survey of approximately 18,000 businesses, but it does not include the level of detail to establish the weight of PVC in waste consumer goods or the proportion disposed by different routes. The Government's Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) will shortly be funding a comprehensive research project into options for PVC recycling in the UK. The research will identify the relevant sources of waste, assess reprocessing options and investigate potential end markets for the reprocessed materials.
Chemicals (Environmental Impact)
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the environmental impact of (1) (a) alkylphenols, (b) brominated flame retardants, (c) organotin compounds, (d) phthalate esters, (e) short-chain chlorinated paraffins and (f) phthalates DEHP and DBP in products; and if she will make a statement; [119068]
- (2) textile and leather finishing treatments; and if she will make a statement. [119069]
Alun Michael: The Existing Substances Regulation (ESR) (793/93/EEC) is the main mechanism through which assessments have been carried out on the environmental impact of existing chemicals. As part of
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the UK's responsibility as a member state of the European Union, the Government have published the risk assessments and risk reduction strategies for certain alkylphenols, brominated flame retardants and short chain chlorinated paraffins. The Environment Agency undertook a general review of alkylphenols last year and the final reports are due June 2003. The UK is currently working jointly with the French Competent Authority in producing a risk reduction strategy for decabromodiphenylether—a brominated flame retardant.
Organotin compounds: The Department has commissioned a number of pieces of research to determine the extent to which use of tributyltin (TBT) as an antifoulant in maritime paints has contaminated the environment and caused effects in biological communities, such as the effect known as imposex in dogwhelks. These include surveys of TBT and imposex on the North Sea (1992 and 1998) and Irish Sea (1998) coasts and the study of the recovery of the benthic communities of the River Crouch in Essex following the 1987 ban on the use of TBT on small craft. Following further amendments to marketing and use restrictions on the use of TBT as a biocide in antifouling paints under Council Directive 2002/62/EC the Department is in the process of commissioning a further survey of effects and concentrations of TBT in UK waters.
There has been no assessment of phthalate esters as group of substances, but DEHP and DBP are part of this group.
DEHP (diethylhexylphthalate) is being assessed under the Existing Substances Regulation by the Swedish competent authority. A draft risk reduction strategy has been produced.
DBP (dibutylphthalate) is also being assessed under ESR by the Dutch Competent Authority. A risk assessment was produced in July 2001.
Risk Assessments are published on the European Chemicals Bureau website http://ecb.jrc.it/existing-chemicals/
(2) There has been no systematic assessment of the environmental impact of textile and leather finishing treatments. Risk Assessments have been carried on a range of substances used in finishing treatments for leather and textiles such as detergents, azo dyes, alkylphenols, brominated flame-retardants and chlorinated paraffins under the work of the Existing Substances Regulations (793/93/EEC). Textile coating and leather finishing processes using more than 5 tonnes of solvent a year have been regulated domestically under the Environmental Protection Act since 1992, and are now subject to the provisions of the European Solvent Emissions Directive (1999/13/EC).
Clinical Waste
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much clinical waste she estimates was disposed of by
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(a) landfill, (b) incineration and (c) other means in the last year for which figures are available, broken down by types of clinical waste. [119071]
Mr. Morley: The commercial and industrial waste survey carried out by the Environment Agency for 1998–99 estimated that, in England and Wales, health care establishments produced almost 750,000 tonnes of different wastes associated with their activities, although only part of this could be considered clinical waste. In 2001, the most recent year for which data are available, the Environment Agency special waste database reports some 5,500 tonnes of clinical waste consigned as special waste. Details of how these wastes were managed are given in the table.
| Type of disposal | Waste from health care | Special clinical waste |
|---|---|---|
| Landfill | 17 | 0.2 |
| Incineration | 234 | 3.2 |
| Other | 490 | 2.1 |
| Total | 741 | 5.5 |
Departmental Property (Angel Group)
Mr. Peter Bradley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list the properties acquired by the Angel Group and its subsidiaries from the Department and its agencies and the (a) dates and (b) costs of their acquisition. [118836]
Alun Michael: Neither the Department nor any of its Executive Agencies have sold property to the Angel Group or its subsidiaries.
Departmental Website
Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what actions she has taken or is taking to ensure that the websites of her Department, its agencies and non-departmental public bodies are accessible to partially sighted and blind people; and if she will make a statement. [117356]
Alun Michael: It is our policy, and that of our agencies, that new or redesigned websites should be accessible in line with the World Wide Web Consortium's Web Accessibility Initiative's guidelines, as detailed in the Guidelines for UK Government websites. These include specific provision for blind and partially-sighted users. In implementing Defra's new corporate identity on our web site, we have incorporated a number of improvements into the design specifically to increase the ease of use of the site by people who are visually or physically impaired.
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