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Glass Container Industry

Mr. Bill O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the effect of recent development of the glass container industry upon the industry's prospects for meeting the 2008 target for glass recycling under the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive; and if she will make a statement. [194723]

Mr. Morley: No assessment has been made of the UK's ability to meet the Packaging Directive's glass target of 60 per cent. in 2008 following the recent developments within the glass container industry.
 
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While the UK glass container industry alone is unlikely to have sufficient reprocessing capacity to deliver the glass target in 2008, there is work being carried out with Industry, WRAP and the Agencies to open up viable alternative markets for recycled glass in order to bridge the gap. The Department, in conjunction with the Advisory Committee on Packaging, is continuing to monitor progress on glass recycling closely and fully expects the UK to comply with the target in 2008.

Greenhouse Gases

Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what progress the Government have made in meeting targets for emissions of greenhouse gases in the UK; [195980]

(2) what further plans the Government have for achieving a reduction in the output of greenhouse gases in the UK. [195964]

Mr. Morley: The UK remains on course to achieve its Kyoto target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 12.5 per cent. below 1990 levels by 2008–12. Total UK emissions of greenhouse gases in 2003 are provisionally estimated to have fallen by 14 per cent. compared to 1990. Emissions of carbon dioxide for 2003 are provisionally estimated at about 7 per cent. lower than in 1990.

The UK climate change programme published in 2000 sets out the Government's approach to tackling climate change. It contains a framework of policies and measures intended to achieve the emissions reductions necessary to deliver the UK's commitment under the Kyoto protocol and move towards the 20 per cent. reduction in carbon dioxide emissions.

The Government recognise that additional measures may be needed to achieve the domestic goal of a 20 per cent. reduction in carbon dioxide emissions. The current review of the UK climate change programme aims to provide a comprehensive assessment of the progress that the Government and the devolved Administrations have made towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions since the programme was published in 2000 to see whether the UK is still on track to meet its domestic goal of reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 2010. If not, the Government will look carefully at whether to introduce new policies and measures, and/or strengthen existing ones. The review will also consider the action that the UK will need to take to ensure it is on course to make "real progress by 2020" towards the ambitious longer-term goal of reducing carbon emissions by 60 per cent. by 2050, as set out in the Energy White Paper.

Mr. Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what measures she intends to take to reduce the loss of greenhouse gases from refrigerators during their lifetime; and if she will make a statement. [196075]

Mr. Morley: Most major UK manufacturers of domestic refrigeration now use hydrocarbon refrigerants. The refrigerant charge in domestic refrigerators is also hermetically sealed and therefore designed not to leak.
 
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The EC proposal for a Regulation on certain fluorinated greenhouse gases includes a range of measures for the containment and recovery of these gases from commercial refrigeration. Political agreement was reached in October 2004.

Hunting

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans the Government have to offer a payment to those affected by a ban on hunting; and whether this would apply if the individual were to emigrate. [193448]

Alun Michael: The Government have no plans to pay compensation to anyone affected by a ban on hunting.

Landfill

Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what controls regulate the disposal of waste in landfill sites. [195972]

Mr. Morley: The disposal of waste to landfill is controlled by the Landfill (England and Wales) Regulations 2002 as amended by the Landfill (England and Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2004. This legislation is regulated by the Environment Agency.

Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what percentage of waste in England was (a) sent to landfill sites for disposal and (b) recycled in 2003–04. [195973]

Mr. Morley: The Municipal Waste Management Survey of English local authorities, conducted annually by Defra, shows that 75 per cent. of municipal waste was sent to landfill in 2002–03 and 16 per cent. was recycled. Audited data for 2003–04 are not yet available.

Figures for the amount of commercial and industrial and construction and demolition waste are not collected annually. However, the Environment Agency's National Waste Production Survey of a sample of 20,000 businesses, conducted in 1998–99, estimated that 50 per cent. of commercial and industrial waste was sent to landfill and 30 per cent. was recycled, while 35 per cent. of construction and demolition waste was recycled and 24 per cent. sent to landfill. A further estimated 41 per cent. of construction and demolition waste was used on landfill sites as day cover.

Leisure Boats

Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment the Government have made of the environmental impact of privately-owned leisure boats; and if she will make a statement. [195579]

Mr. Morley: Privately-owned leisure boats are subject to a range of general environmental legislation, specific statutory controls and good practice guidance designed to mitigate any harmful effects on the environment. These measures are developed through regular contact with relevant associations such as the Royal Yachting Association and the British Marine Federation.

Formal consultation is carried out with stakeholders to gauge environmental impacts and to ensure measures adopted take into consideration the studies carried out
 
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by agencies, navigation authorities, environmental groups and private bodies into specific aspects of leisure boat use.

In addition, work is carried out within Government Departments and through external consultants to gauge the impact of the leisure sector on the environment, for example the generation of marine litter washed up on the UK shoreline.

Litter

Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate she has made of the cost of dealing with litter (a) dropped and (b) wrongly disposed of during each of the last five years. [195965]

Alun Michael: It is not possible to separate costs for litter cleansing. These costs are included within the overall street cleansing figures. ODPM has provided the total expenditure figures on street cleaning not chargeable to highways, as follows:

	£ million
1998–99	386
1999–2000	413
2000–01	448
2001–02	469

It is estimated that 2002–03 will be £492.45million.

Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if her Department will increase penalties for people who drop litter on the streets. [195966]

Alun Michael: Yes. We have already made that intention clear and consulted on our proposals.

Mr. Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the Government's strategy is over the next five years for dealing with litter on the streets. [195969]

Alun Michael: The recent Clean Neighbourhoods consultation set out a number of practical proposals for dealing with litter and improving the local environment everywhere in the country. We hope to take forward several of the measures contained therein through the earliest suitable legislative opportunity.

Recent pilots have resulted in a significant reduction in fast food litter and as a result we are currently finalising the Voluntary Code of Practice for "Food on the Go".

We have recently published the segmentation research into chewing gum droppers, at www.defra.gov.uk/environment/localenv/litter/index.htm. The research will inform a national campaign to target gum users to change the behaviour of gum droppers. The campaign will be launched in the summer.

All this work is underpinned by the annual Local Environmental Quality Survey of England, developed on the Government's behalf by ENCAMS. The survey provides the most precise picture we have ever had of the state of the local environment throughout the country.
 
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The survey also enables us to accurately assess how successful the above measures are working on the ground.

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