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Landfill Licences
Mr. Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 11 June 2003, Official Report, column 877W, for what reason the Environment Agency in Leeds wrote to residents on 10 June 2003 informing them that the modification to the licence applied for had been withdrawn. [119579]
Mr. Morley [holding answer 16 June 2003]: I understand from the Environment Agency that the letter was sent in response to one received by two members of the public, who had outlined their objection to the application, currently being considered by the Agency, for the modification of Waste Management Licence No 735 relating to a waste transfer station at Ingram Works, Wortley Moor Road, Leeds held by Harry Sanders Ltd.
The response confirmed that the applicant had written formally to the Agency withdrawing that part of the modification application requesting the acceptance of bonded asbestos at the site. The remainder of the modification application is still being considered by the Agency.
Radioactive Materials
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list locations licensed by her Department for the use of radioactive materials; and if she will make a statement. [117535]
Mr. Morley: None is licensed by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. In England and Wales registration of users of radioactivity is the responsibility of the Environment Agency.
Recycling
Joan Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what percentage of homes in England have (a) one material, (b) two materials, (c) three materials and (d) four materials or more collected from their home for recycling separately from their residual waste; and what percentage of household waste is recycled from homes in each of the above categories. [117818]
Mr. Morley [holding answer 9 June 2003]: The figures relate to 2001–02 which is the most recent year for which we have full statistics.
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The percentage of households with kerbside collection of recyclable materials:
- (a) one material—12 per cent.
(b) two materials—11 per cent.
(c) three materials—11 per cent.
(d) four materials or more—24 per cent.
The recycling rate for each of the above is:
- (a) 6.7 per cent.
(b) 10.1 per cent.
(c) 10.8 per cent.
(d) 11.7 per cent.
The reason for the absence is that kerbside recylate collections are monitored by the Waste Collection Authority and waste from the civic amenity sites are dealt with by the Waste Disposal Authority.
Regulatory Bodies
Mr. Yeo: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list the (a) number of staff employed by and (b) budget of each regulatory body for which her Department is responsible in each year since 1997. [117778]
Alun Michael: This information is available in published documents. The annual publication Public Bodies contains details of all non-departmental public bodies and public corporations sponsored by departments, and includes details of the number of staff employed at 31 March each year, and details of their annual government funding and expenditure. The latest published edition is Public Bodies 2002.
Copies of Public Bodies 2002, and previous editions going back to 1982 are available in the Libraries of the House. It is also available, together with editions going back to 1998, at: http://www.cabinet-office.gov.uk/agencies-publicbodies/publicbodies/index.shtm.
Tourism
Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many visitors visited (a) the Brecon Beacons, (b) the Norfolk Broads, (c) Dartmoor, (d) Snowdonia, (e) Exmoor, (f) the Lake District, (g) Loch Lomond and the Trossachs, (h) the North York Moors, (i) Northumberland, (j) the Peak District, (k) the Pembrokeshire Coast and (l) the Yorkshire Dales in (i) 1997, (ii) 1998, (iii) 1999, (iv) 2000, (v) 2001, (vi) 2002 and (vii) 2003 to date. [119144]
Alun Michael: Statistics are not collected annually. The last comprehensive visitor survey of the national parks was undertaken in 1994. The figures for national parks in England and Wales are given in the following table. A new survey is to be undertaken in 2004.
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| National park | Visitor days |
|---|---|
| Norfolk Broads | 5,361,000 |
| Dartmoor | 3,825,000 |
| Exmoor | 1,397,000 |
| Lake District | 13,925,000 |
| North York Moors | 7,790,000 |
| Northumberland | 1,408,000 |
| Peak District | 12,400,000 |
| Yorkshire Dales | 8,303,000 |
| Pembrokeshire Coast | 4,622,000 |
| Snowdonia | 6,568,000 |
| Brecon Beacons | 3,622,000 |
Policy for national parks in Wales is a matter for the National Assembly for Wales. The national parks in Scotland come under the responsibility of the Scottish Parliament, which has established them, and did not exist at the time of the 1994 Survey.
Veal Imports
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what have been the total annual imports of veal from Holland for each year from 1985 to date. [119107]
Mr. Bradshaw [holding answer 13 June 2003]: Official Overseas Trade Statistics do not separately identify veal. The following table shows the total annual imports of bovine meat from Holland for each year from 1985 to date.
| Bovine meat (fresh, chilled or frozen) with bone in | Bovine meat (fresh, chilled or frozen) boneless | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tonnes | Thousand | Tonnes | Thousand | |||
| 1985 | 4,996 | 12,965 | 6,468 | 16,851 | ||
| 1986 | 7,950 | 18,621 | 7,174 | 19,507 | ||
| 1987 | 8,122 | 20,961 | 9,700 | 25,976 | ||
| 1988 | 15,481 | 39,234 | 10,354 | 26,039 | ||
| 1989 | 11,798 | 34,870 | 8,119 | 21,822 | ||
| 1990 | 5,666 | 18,751 | 5,794 | 18,914 | ||
| 1991 | 7,419 | 19,061 | 5,512 | 16,286 | ||
| 1992 | 3,804 | 13,294 | 4,538 | 14,612 | ||
| 1993 | 4,200 | 12,047 | 3,816 | 11,374 | ||
| 1994 | 3,662 | 11,112 | 5,040 | 13,584 | ||
| 1995 | 1,794 | 6,124 | 6,389 | 16,235 | ||
| 1996 | 3,123 | 7,253 | 8,986 | 19,485 | ||
| 1997 | 3,455 | 7,314 | 14,126 | 30,883 | ||
| 1998 | 2,311 | 5,711 | 7,105 | 17,057 | ||
| 1999 | 1,767 | 5,108 | 8,167 | 19,160 | ||
| 2000 | 1,645 | 4,143 | 6,753 | 18,105 | ||
| 2001 | 2,151 | 4,019 | 10,811 | 23,313 | ||
| 2002 | 2,304 | 4,236 | 11,241 | 25,197 | ||
Note:
2002 data is provisional and subject to amendment
Source:
HM Customs and Excise
Data prepared by Statistics (Commodities & Food) Accounts and Trade, ESD, DEFRA
Waste Management
Mr. Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the operator pollution risk appraisal score of each of the licensed (a) waste disposal and (b) landfill sites in (i) the Leeds Metropolitan District area and (ii) the Yorkshire and Humberside area was in each year since 1990. [116205]
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Mr. Morley: The Environment Agency has supplied the relevant data which will be placed in the House Library.
Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on progress (a) since February 2002 towards
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meeting the targets of the Government's Waste Management Strategy of 2000 and (b) since the Waste Summit. [117388]
Mr. Morley: The information is as follows:
| Target | 2000–01 | 2001–02 |
|---|---|---|
| Recycle or compost 17 per cent. of household waste by 2003–04 | 11.2 per cent.(Municipal waste 12.3 per cent.) | 12.4 per cent.(Municipal waste 13.5 per cent.) |
| By 2005 to reduce the amount of industrial and commercial waste sent to landfill to 85 per cent. of that landfilled in 1998; | Provisional EA data suggests that there was a reduction of 8 per cent. between 1998–99—2000–01 in the amount of waste sent to licensed landfill sites. This means that we are at 92 per cent. of 1998 levels, and are hopeful that we will meet this target. The Environment Agency will be conducting the next Industrial and Commercial Waste Survey this year. | |
| To recover value from 40 per cent. of municipal waste by 2005 | — | 22.3 per cent. |
| Reduce biodegradable waste landfilled to 75 per cent. of that produced in 1995, by 2010 (with derogation) | It is estimated that we landfilled 93 per cent. of biodegradable waste produced in 1995, in 2000–01 | No current figures available |
Since the Waste Summit in 2001, the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit has produced its report. "Waste Not, Want Not". This looks at how our progress in reducing our reliance on landfill and moving towards more sustainable waste management might be speeded up.
The Government published their response on 6 May. In the response, the Government accept the majority of the recommendations and support the direction or intent of many of the others. The Government have already acted on a number of recommendations. A package of measures is now being taken forward:
Landfill Tax will be increased by £3 per tonne in 2005–06 and by at least £3 per tonne in the years thereafter, on the way to a medium to long-term rate of £35 per tonne.
The Landfill Tax Credit Scheme has been reformed and a proportion of the funding—£84/£92/£92 million—has been re-directed to a new Sustainable Waste Management Programme in England in 2003–04, 2004–05 and 2005–06;
The new Waste Implementation Programme (WIP) run by Defra will concentrate on improving waste minimisation, recycling and composting, and researching new technologies for dealing with those wastes which are not readily reduced, reused or recycled. A Local Authority Delivery Taskforce will assist local authorities to meet their recycling and composting targets.
A new Delivery Team and Steering Group is being established in Defra to drive forward implementation of the Government's response to the Strategy report and new programmes of work in Defra and WRAP;
Local authority funding of £90 million each year for 2004–05 and 2005–06 has been provided for the Waste Minimisation and Recycling Fund or its successor Performance Reward Fund.
The Waste and Emissions Trading Bill includes provisions to allow waste disposal authorities to direct waste collection authorities to collect separated waste. It will soon include measures to promote more strategic waste planning at a local level in two tier authorities.
A review of the health and environmental effects of waste management and disposal options has been commissioned. This work is well under way.
There will be a review of the planning guidelines for waste management, Planning Policy Guidance 10. The Government recognise that there will be an increasing need for waste management facilities to deal with our waste, in particular, for recycling. The review will aim to improve the guidance and help local authorities to make timely and appropriate decisions. Expansion of WRAP will take forward a number of waste minimisation schemes:
Home composting scheme—increase the number of households carrying out home composting and promote the effectiveness of composting carried out.
Reusable nappies scheme—promoting the use of reusable nappies.
Retailer initiative—with top retailers, aiming to reduce the amount of waste entering the waste stream from supermarket purchased products.
Innovation fund—aimed at identifying and developing innovative approaches to waste minimisation.
Kerbside task force—the Recycling and Organics Technical Advisory Team (ROTATE) to work with local authorities to help maximise the potential of kerbside collections, particularly biodegradable organics.
National education and awareness programme—raising the general public's awareness of waste issues and the benefits of recycling,
Local education and awareness programme—to support the ROTATE and waste minimisation initiatives outlined above.
Government estimate that new WIP measures alone will contribute substantially to recycling and composting rates, cumulating to an estimated overall impact of 21 per cent. by 2005–06 and bring us much closer to our targets.
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