| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
19 Nov 2003 : Column 913W—continued
Waste Incineration
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what research is being undertaken into the health effects of energy-from-waste incinerators. [138820]
Mr. Morley: The Government has commissioned a review of the environmental and health effects of waste management options including incineration. This appraisal is currently being peer reviewed by the Royal Society and is due to be published around the time of the Pre-Budget report 2003.
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the distribution of proposed waste incineration. [138823]
Mr. Morley: At present just over 12 per cent. of England's municipal waste is recycled or composted, about 9 per cent. of municipal waste is incinerated and the rest is landfilled.
There are 16 Municipal Solid Waste Incinerators in the whole of the UK (14 in England and Wales, two in Scotland) with a total capacity of about 2.7 million tonnes of municipal solid waste per year. There are many hundreds of other incinerators for sewage sludge, hazardous waste, clinical waste, production waste from factories etc.
19 Nov 2003 : Column 914W
The Government has no plans for constructing any particular number of incinerators: the choice of waste treatment facilities is a matter for local authorities to take into consideration with the communities they serve; along with other factors such as their recycling targets and national waste policy.
Waste Performance Reward Grant
Mr. Hurst: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the practice in other EU countries in relation to excluding rubble and incineration bottom ash from recycling totals. [139455]
Mr. Morley: No detailed assessments have been made of the practice in other EU countries. In the UK and England, any wastes that are recycled are included in the relevant statistics for recycling.
However, for the purposes of local authority Best Value Performance Standards in England, rubble and incineration bottom ash, among some other wastes, are excluded from the recycling figures. They are not included in the Standards because the Government want to encourage the recycling and composting of dry recyclables and compostable materials separated from mixed household wastes.
Mr. Hurst: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she expects to receive the report of the review into the health and environmental effects of waste disposal. [139458]
Mr. Morley: The report on the review of the environmental and health effects of waste management options is due to be published around the time of the pre-budget report.
Mr. Hurst: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what capacity there is in the United Kingdom for the (a) treatment, (b) recovery and (c) recycling of (i) end of life vehicles and (ii) electrical and electronic equipment. [139460]
Mr. Morley: A recent study, undertaken by the Industry Council for Electronics Recycling (ICER), estimated the UK's current capacity to treat waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) to be between 130 and 180 facilities UK wide. At present, there are between 70 and 120 specialist treatment facilities that only treat and process electrical waste, mainly IT waste. There are also 19 fridge recyclers in the UK, and ICER suggest that these facilities may turn to treatment of other WEEE in the future. In addition to the specialist treatment facilities, there are around 40 plants UK wide that shred and granulate WEEE in preparation for recycling, and these types of plants treat most types of WEEE, alongside other waste streams, like end-of-life vehicles (ELVs).
Similarly, it is estimated that there are presently around 950 businesses with waste management licences, and a further 1,750 registered exempt businesses, treating end-of-life vehicles. A recent study, carried out for the Department by TRL Ltd., calculated that approximately 77 per cent. of the weight of ELVs scrapped in 2000 was reused, recovered and recycled.
19 Nov 2003 : Column 915W
However, it is not clear what the UK capacity will be for recycling WEEE, although we do know that much of the recycling industry has already taken the opportunity to recycle electronic and vehicle scrap now entering the waste stream.
Mr. Hurst: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent measures she has introduced on waste minimisation. [139461]
Mr. Morley: The Government have committed over £40 million over the next three years (2003–06) to the Waste and Resources Action Programme's (WRAP) waste minimisation work. Its work tackles waste minimisation through four schemes:
- an expansion of home composting;
promotion of re-usable nappies;
a research and development programme, aimed at identifying and developing innovative approaches to waste minimisation; and
work with major retailers to reduce the amount of waste entering the waste stream from supermarkets.
Mr. Hurst: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate she has made of the amount of commercial and industrial waste diverted to local authority managed civic amenity sites in the last year for which figures are available; and if she will make a statement. [139462]
Mr. Morley: Section 51(1) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 places a duty on waste disposal authorities to provide reasonably accessible places (civic amenity sites) for persons resident in their area to deposit their household waste. Section 51(3) of the 1990 Act enables waste disposal authorities to include in those sites arrangements for the deposit of other controlled waste (commercial and industrial waste) by other persons on such terms as to payment (if any) as the waste disposal authority determines.
Defra does not hold information on the amount of commercial and industrial waste diverted to local authority managed civic amenity sites.
Mr. Hurst: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many local authority projects for waste minimisation are funded from the Waste Minimisation and Recycling Fund. [139463]
Mr. Morley: In 2003–04, the National Waste Minimisation Fund received 34 funding bids for waste minimisation, including education. Of these, 11 received just over a total of £2 million.
Mr. Hurst: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the Waste Performance Reward Grant. [139464]
Mr. Morley: The Government announced on 12 August 2003 that they would consult interested parties on the design of the waste performance reward grant in the autumn. Preparations for launching the consultation are well-advanced.
19 Nov 2003 : Column 916W
Website
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what her policy is on the use of computer games on her departmental website. [139296]
Alun Michael: Our aim is that our website should include material that is suitable for its intended audience. On occasion, we have developed website content, typically aimed at a schools audience, that uses quizzes and similar content to stimulate users of the site as part of their learning process.
Yoghurt Classification
Mr. Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what advice has been given to yoghurt manufacturers to help them comply with EU Directives on yoghurt classification. [139045]
Miss Melanie Johnson: I have been asked to reply.
I am advised by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) that there is no specific European Union legislation on the composition and labelling of yoghurt. However, the European Commission is considering the need for such legislation and the form it might take. The FSA is currently consulting interested parties on a draft document prepared by the Commission.
SCOTLAND
Bechtel
Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the contracts for consultancy and other work carried out by Bechtel in each year since 1997 by the Scottish Office, stating in each case (a) the nature of the work, (b) the value of the contract and (c) the duration of the contract; and if he will make a statement. [137731]
Mrs. McGuire: No consultancy or other work was carried out by Bechtel for the Scottish Office between 1997 and 30 June 1999. Responsibility for contracts after that date is a matter for the Scottish Executive.
Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the contracts for consultancy and other work carried out by Bechtel for agencies responsible to his Department and its predecessor in each year since 1997, stating in each case (a) the nature of the work, (b) the value of the contract and (c) the duration of the contract; and if he will make a statement. [138066]
Mrs. McGuire: No consultancy or other work was carried out by Bechtel for agencies responsible to the former Scottish Office between 1997 and 30 June 1999; or for agencies responsible to the Scotland Office since 1 July 1999.
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |