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'(1) The Scottish Ministers must have a strategy to meet Directive 2002/96/EC on Waste Electric And Electronic Equipment.
(2) The Scottish Ministers will establish by regulation that the electrical equipment manufacturers, distributors and importers are held responsible for the cost of recycling the electrical equipment at the end of its life.
(3) Before formulating policy for the purposes of subsections (1) and (2), the Scottish Ministers must—
(a) consult with the relevant EU bodies, the Secretary of State, the National Assembly for Wales, the Department of the Environment and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency,
(b) consult such bodies or persons appearing to them to be representative of the interests of local government as they consider appropriate,
(c) consult such bodies or persons appearing to them to be representative of the interests of industry as they consider appropriate, and
(d) carry out such public consultation as they consider appropriate.
(4) The Scottish Ministers must set out in a statement any policy formulated for the purposes of subsections (1) and (2).
(5) The Scottish Ministers must, as soon as a statement is prepared for the purposes of subsection (4), send a copy of it to—
(a) the Secretary of State,
(b) the National Assembly for Wales, and
(c) the Department of the Environment.'.
New clause 11—Strategies for meeting the Waste Electric and Electronic Equipment Directive: Wales—
'(1) The National Assembly for Wales must have a strategy to meet Directive 2002/96/EC on Waste Electric And Electronic Equipment.
(2) The National Assembly for Wales will establish by regulation that the electrical equipment manufacturers, distributors and importers are held responsible for the cost of recycling the electrical equipment at the end of its life.
(3) Before formulating policy for the purposes of subsections (1) and (2), the Assembly must—
(a) consult with the relevant EU bodies, the Secretary of State, the Scottish Ministers, the Department of the Environment and the Environment Agency,
(b) consult such bodies or persons appearing to it to be representative of the interests of local government as it considers appropriate,
(c) consult such bodies or persons appearing to it to be representative of the interests of industry as it considers appropriate, and
(d) carry out such public consultation as it considers appropriate.
(4) The Assembly must set out in a statement any policy formulated for the purposes of subsections (1) and (2).
(5) The Assembly must, as soon as a statement is prepared for the purposes of subsection (4), send a copy of it to—
(a) the Secretary of State,
(b) the Scottish Ministers, and
(c) the Department of the Environment.'.
New clause 12—Strategies for meeting the Waste Electric and Electronic Equipment Directive: Northern Ireland—
'(1) The Department of the Environment must have a strategy to meet Directive 2002/96/EC on Waste Electric And Electronic Equipment.
(2) The Department of the Environment will establish by regulation that the electrical equipment manufacturers, distributors and importers are held responsible for the cost of recycling the electrical equipment at the end of its life.
(3) Before formulating policy for the purposes of subsections (1) and (2), the Department must—
(a) consult with the relevant EU bodies, the Secretary of State, the Scottish Ministers and the National Assembly for Wales,
(b) consult such bodies or persons appearing to it to be representative of the interests of local government as it considers appropriate,
(c) consult such bodies or persons appearing to it to be representative of the interests of industry as it considers appropriate, and
(d) carry out such public consultation as it considers appropriate.
(4) The Department must set out in a statement any policy formulated for the purposes of subsections (1) and (2).
(5) The Department must, as soon as a statement is prepared for the purposes of subsection (4), send a copy of it to—
(a) the Secretary of State,
(b) the Scottish Ministers, and
(c) the National Assembly for Wales.'.
New clause 13—Strategies for meeting the Directive on Packaging and Packaging Waste: England—
'(1) The Secretary of State must have a strategy to meet Directive 94/62/EC on Packaging and Packaging Waste.
(2) The Secretary of State will establish by regulation that the original producers have mechanisms in place to facilitate the recovery and reuse of their packaging, and the recycling and recovery of packaging waste.
(3) Before formulating policy for the purposes of subsections (1) and (2), the Secretary of State must—
(a) consult with the relevant EU bodies, the Scottish Ministers, the National Assembly for Wales, the Department of the Environment, the Secretary of State for the Home Office, the Environment Agency and the Mayor of London,
(b) consult such bodies or persons appearing to him to be representative of the interests of local government as he considers appropriate,
(c) consult such bodies or persons appearing to him to be representative of the interests of industry as he considers appropriate, and
(d) carry out such public consultation as he considers appropriate.
(4) The Secretary of State must set out in a statement any policy formulated for the purposes of subsections (1) and (2).
(5) The Secretary of State must, as soon as a statement is prepared for the purposes of subsection (4), send a copy of it to—
(a) the Scottish Ministers,
(b) the National Assembly for Wales, and
(c) the Department of the Environment.'.
New clause 14—Strategies for meeting the Directive on Packaging and Packaging Waste: Scotland—
'(1) The Scottish Ministers must have a strategy to meet Directive 94/62/EC on Packaging and Packaging Waste.
(2) The Scottish Ministers will establish by regulation that the original producers have mechanisms in place to facilitate the recovery and reuse of their packaging, and the recycling and recovery of packaging waste.
(3) Before formulating policy for the purposes of subsections (1) and (2), the Scottish Ministers must—
(b) consult such bodies or persons appearing to them to be representative of the interests of local government as they consider appropriate,
(c) consult such bodies or persons appearing to them to be representative of the interests of industry as they consider appropriate, and
(d) carry out such public consultation as they consider appropriate.
(4) The Scottish Ministers must set out in a statement any policy formulated for the purposes of subsections (1) and (2).
(5) The Scottish Ministers must, as soon as a statement is prepared for the purposes of subsection (4), send a copy of it to—
(a) the Secretary of State,
(b) the National Assembly for Wales, and
(c) the Department of the Environment.'.
New clause 15—Strategies for meeting the Directive on Packaging and Packaging Waste: Wales—
'(1) The National Assembly for Wales must have a strategy to meet Directive 94/62/EC on Packaging and Packaging Waste.
(2) The National Assembly for Wales will establish by regulation that the original producers have mechanisms in place to facilitate the recovery and reuse of their packaging, and the recycling and recovery of packaging waste.
(3) Before formulating policy for the purposes of subsections (1) and (2), the Assembly must—
(a) consult with the relevant EU bodies, the Secretary of State, the Scottish Ministers, the Department of the Environment and the Environment Agency,
(b) consult such bodies or persons appearing to it to be representative of the interests of local government as it considers appropriate,
(c) consult such bodies or persons appearing to it to be representative of the interests of industry as it considers appropriate, and
(d) carry out such public consultation as it considers appropriate.
(4) The Assembly must set out in a statement any policy formulated for the purposes of subsections (1) and (2).
(5) The Assembly must, as soon as a statement is prepared for the purposes of subsection (4), send a copy of it to—
(a) the Secretary of State,
(b) the Scottish Ministers, and
(c) the Department of the Environment.'.
New clause 16—Strategies for meeting the Directive on Packaging and Packaging Waste: Northern Ireland—
'(1) The Department of the Environment must have a strategy to meet Directive 94/62/EC on Packaging and Packaging Waste.
(2) The Department of the Environment will establish by regulation that the original producers have mechanisms in place to facilitate the recovery and reuse of their packaging, and the recycling and recovery of packaging waste.
(3) Before formulating policy for the purposes of subsections (1) and (2), the Department must—
(a) consult with the relevant EU bodies, the Secretary of State, the Scottish Ministers and the National Assembly for Wales,
(b) consult such bodies or persons appearing to it to be representative of the interests of local government as it considers appropriate,
(d) carry out such public consultation as it considers appropriate.
(4) The Department must set out in a statement any policy formulated for the purposes of subsections (1) and (2).
(5) The Department must, as soon as a statement is prepared for the purposes of subsection (4), send a copy of it to—
(a) the Secretary of State,
(b) the Scottish Ministers, and
(c) the National Assembly for Wales.'.
Norman Baker: We have had a broad run around the houses and we have mentioned waste minimisation. I have no wish to distract the Minister further and wander off the point, so I shall stick to waste minimisation as far as I can.
The Minister referred to the waste hierarchy. One of the points of agreement between hon. Members on both sides of the House and the population at large is that the waste hierarchy is right—the order of process is right. However, incineration is further down the hierarchy than landfill. It has been reclassified as a disposal technique rather than a recovery technique following a recent Luxembourg judgment, which I hope the Government are aware of and will now take account of in their strategy. However, the hierarchy is right and at the top, as the Minister says, is waste minimisation. Yet that is the least developed part of the hierarchy: we know least about it, and have discussed it the fewest times. I suggest that there are fewer measures in the Bill to deliver waste minimisation than there are for other elements of the hierarchy.
In fact, delivery of the hierarchy is almost like an upside-down pyramid in reverse. Landfill remains the most attractive option in many ways, even though the EU landfill directive will no doubt have an effect. The landfill tax has not increased to the optimum level. The Chancellor of the Exchequer has proposed a rate of £35 a tonne, but getting there is taking a long time and we are not there yet. After landfill, incineration is the next most attractive option, followed by recycling, re-use and waste minimisation. In terms of incentives, that is the waste hierarchy in reverse. It contrasts with Government statements about what should be happening in theory.
Our intention with the new clause is to help the Government and the Minister, by encouraging waste minimisation. I want to help the Minister to deliver his strategy, as he is not doing so at the moment.
Waste is not being reduced but is growing by 3 per cent. a year. That is the key measure of the Government's success in protecting the environment, which is what we are talking about, not EU directives or avoiding fines. The best way to help the environment is to minimise the creation of waste in the first place.
Waste minimisation is not happening, for a number of reasons. One is that the levers to pull in respect of waste minimisation are more difficult to find. I am happy to accept that that is the case. Another reason is that EU measures cannot, by their nature, be fiscal measures, as countries have not agreed unanimously to introduce such measures. The packaging directive, for example, requires that a certain amount of waste is recycled but
does not reduce the amount of packaging used in the first place. The directive helps recycling, therefore, but not waste reduction and minimisation.Another factor is that the Government's waste minimisation strategy, to the extent that it exists, is not communicated effectively to local authorities, which do not consider that they have a waste minimisation function. They see themselves as having a waste recycling, incineration or disposal function.
I recently gave evidence at the public inquiry into the East Sussex waste local plan, covering Brighton and Hove. I attempted to suggest that we should broaden the waste minimisation plan, but the barrister representing the county council told me that I had no business to try to introduce waste minimisation into the local plan. He said that that was inappropriate because waste minimisation was a national measure. The clear message from the councils is that waste minimisation is a matter for Government, but the Minister has said that it should be delivered by local councils. The reality is that no one is doing it properly, which is why nothing is happening and why waste is continuing to grow.
A number of measures could help, and I shall set them out later. First, however, we should remind ourselves of the scale of the problem and of the amounts disposed of last year in this country: they include 24 million car tyres, 972 million plastic water bottles, and 94,000 fridges. There were 226,000 old cars abandoned, as opposed to their being disposed of. In addition, 2 million mobile phones and 32 million printer cartridges were thrown away.
Printer cartridges provide a good example of where the waste minimisation strategy proposed in new clause 1 could be helpful. Twenty per cent. of the printer cartridge market is taken up by re-usable products that can be refilled and reclaimed. That minimises the throw-away culture and the amount of landfill taken up by printer cartridges.
I am sure that the Minister will agree that re-using printer cartridges is a better solution in environmental terms than buying new cartridges and throwing them away at the end of their useful lives. However, the waste electrical and electronic equipment directive discussions were led by the Department of Trade and Industry, and not by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, as I think should have been the case. Britain has taken the lead in resisting the inclusion in the WEEE directive of printer cartridges. The DTI does not want cartridges to be classified as electrical wastes. Under pressure from Hewlett Packard and other manufacturers, the DTI wants the disposable culture to continue. That is an example of how the Government are simply not implementing their waste minimisation strategy.
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