| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
19 Dec 2005 : Column 2379W—continued
EU Sugar Regime
Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what criteria were used to agree additional EU support for sugar producers in the French De"partement d'Outre Mer; and if she will make a statement. [36637]
Mr. Bradshaw: The additional support for sugar producers in the outermost regions of the EU, including French overseas departments, is based on the specific characteristics distinguishing production in those areas and will be integrated into local support programmes as provided for in the relevant Council Regulations in the POSEI (Programme of Options Specific to Remote and Insular Regions) series.
Mr. Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what representations she has received from farmers on the recent announcement on the EU sugar reforms. [36951]
Mr. Bradshaw: Farmers representatives have recognised the sugar agreement as a tough but necessary reform, removing recent uncertainties about the future of the sector. They have also asked for early discussions with Ministers on the detail of the compensation arrangements for UK sugar beet growers.
Expert Advisers
Mr. Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what criteria govern the number of papers a candidate must have published to be considered an expert member of her Department's statutory advisory bodies; and whether, when considering applications for membership of such bodies, her Department takes into account the declaration of conflict of interest at the end of papers published by scientific journals. [35797]
Jim Knight:
There is not a standard requirement for expert members of DEFRA's advisory committees to have published scientific papers. All appointees must be able to demonstrate they posses the level of expertise and/or experience defined in the post criteria. The Department will seek to satisfy itself that the evidence provided by the candidate is appropriate to the post.
19 Dec 2005 : Column 2380W
The degree of expertise required will be decided on a post-by-post basis, in accordance with the requirements of each committee.
All applicants are asked to declare any potential conflicts of interest on their application form and again at interview. If the selection panel think there is anything in an application that could potentially be seen to conflict with the work of the committee it will be discussed with the candidate at interview. This approach follows the Commissioner for Public Appointment's code of practice.
Farm Animals (Disease Levy)
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the merits of imposing a levy on farmers to pay for the cost of future animal disease outbreaks; and if she will make a statement. [36967]
Mr. Bradshaw: The Joint Industry Government Working Group announced 28 November in the Partners for success—A farm regulation and charging strategy" will assess the merits of a levy on farmers as part of its consideration of the options for sharing the risks of animal disease outbreaks.
Food Recalls
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list the recalls of foodstuffs that have been notified to the Department over the last year for which figures are available. [35106]
Caroline Flint: I have been asked to reply.
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) advises that during the period 1 January-30 November 2005, product withdrawals or product recalls notified to them resulted in the agency issuing 58 Food Alerts for Information (FAFI).
During that period, the FSA also issued 16 food alerts for action (FAFA). These required the relevant local authority to undertake further investigation and/or enforcement action in order to remove the affected product/s from the food supply chain. In total 74 food alerts were issued.
Home Information Packs
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 15 November 2005, Official Report, column 1061W, on home information packs, if she will place in the Library a copy of her Department's submission. [31834]
Mr. Bradshaw: A copy of the submission will be made available in the Library of the House. My officials will continue discussions with interested parties on the inclusion of contaminated land reports in Home Imformation Packs.
Peter Law:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Meriden (Mrs. Spelman) of 15 November 2005, Official Report, column 1061W, on Home Information Packs (HIPs), what information
19 Dec 2005 : Column 2381W
on contaminated land she proposes should be included in HIPs; and if she will place the full submission to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (a) in the Library and (b) on her Department's website. [36015]
Mr. Bradshaw: The submission referred to in the answer to the hon. Member for Meriden (Mrs. Spelman) has already been placed in the Library of the House. The Department has not put forward proposals of its own on the contents of Home Information Packs, but will continue discussions with interested parties on the possible inclusion of contaminated land reports in these Packs.
Integrated Pollution Legislation
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the regulatory impact of the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control legislation. [37338]
Mr. Bradshaw: The Department undertook a regulatory impact assessment (RIA) of the Pollution Prevention and Control Regulations 2000, when these regulations were laid before Parliament. A further copy of this RIA will be deposited in the Library of the House.
The Department, with the support of the devolved Administrations and other Government Departments, is currently undertaking a review which will provide an evaluation of the UK implementation of EC Directive 96/61 on Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control, as implemented through the Pollution and Prevention and Control Regulations 2000, in terms of both costs and benefits. This evaluation is expected to be published in early 2006.
Landfill
Mr. Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what her estimate is of the amount of landfill capacity likely to be available in (a) 2010 and (b) 2015 at present rates of disposal. [36121]
Mr. Bradshaw: There is sufficient landfill capacity to meet current arisings. Landfill capacity in 2010 and beyond is difficult to predict. However, Government policies are designed to significantly reduce the demand for disposal in landfill in future.
Mr. Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent research she has commissioned into the types of material going to landfill. [36122]
Mr. Bradshaw:
The Environment Agency's 2002–03 Commercial and Industrial Waste Survey provides the most comprehensive and up to date evidence. The total of construction, industrial and hazardous waste streams in England is estimated at 67.5 million tonnes, of which about 28.5 million tonnes goes to landfill. A further breakdown is given in the following table.
19 Dec 2005 : Column 2382W
DEFRA's annual Municipal Waste Survey provides the most comprehensive evidence on the sources, quantities and fates of municipal waste collected by local authorities in England. In 2003–04 local authorities collected 29.1 million tonnes of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW). Of this, 25.4 million tonnes was household waste, the remainder being collected from sources such as industry, commerce, municipal parks and gardens. In total 72 per cent. (20.9 million tonnes) of MSW was disposed of in landfill.
Mr. Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what her estimate is of how many tons of paper went to landfill in each of the last five years for which figures are available. [36123]
Mr. Bradshaw: Data are not specifically collected on the amount of paper sent to landfill. However, the Confederation of British Paper Industries estimates the amount of paper consumed in the UK and therefore likely to become waste (shown in the following table). They also estimate that 38 per cent. of paper and board are recycled. The paper materials that are not sent for recycling will be disposed of by some method, but it is not known what proportion of this is sent to landfill.
| Amount | |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 12.8 |
| 2000 | 12.9 |
| 2001 | 12.6 |
| 2002 | 12.4 |
| 2003 | 12.5 |
(14)Consumption is defined as UK production plus imports minus exports.
Mr. Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 5 December 2005, Official Report, column930W, on landfill, if she will make an assessment of the landfill requirement arising from the consumption of bottled water; and if she will draw up a plan of action to encourage the recycling of bottles. [36459]
19 Dec 2005 : Column 2383W
Mr. Bradshaw: Glass and plastic bottles are already subject to recycling obligations under the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 1997 (as amended), which require businesses that handle more than 50 tonnes of packaging a year and have a turnover greater than £2 million to recover and recycle specified tonnages of packaging waste.
In 2004, 344,000 tonnes of plastic packaging waste was recycled, of which we estimate that about 10 per cent. or 34,500 tonnes was plastic bottles, some of which would have held water. I understand that the plastic industry expect to recycle 50,000 tonnes of plastic bottles this year. Likewise, in 2004, 1,050,000 tonnes of glass packaging waste was recycled, of which approximately 75 per cent. was glass bottles and again some would have held water. It is worth noting, however, that in 2004 only 32,000 tonnes of glass was used to bottle water. It is much more sustainable for people to drink tap water.
Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what financial penalties would be incurred by the United Kingdom in the event of non-compliance with the EU Landfill Directive; and if she will make a statement. [38573]
Mr. Bradshaw: The European Commission is not currently undertaking any infraction proceedings against the United Kingdom in relation to the Landfill Directive (1999/31/EC) as supplemented by Council Decision 2003/33/EC. In the absence of infraction proceedings, the issue of financial penalties does not arise.
Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many and what percentage of (a) closed and (b) operating landfill sites capture methane for electricity generation; what volume in total was captured in the last period for which figures are available; and what estimate she has made of savings in greenhouse gas emissions from (i) non-release of methane and (ii) displacement of fossil fuel generation, assuming all displacement came from such sources. [30924]
Mr. Bradshaw:
In 2004, there were in excess of 200 generating stations utilising landfill methane in the UK. The Government does not hold statistics determining whether these landfill gas utilisation plants are located on closed landfill sites or operational ones. There are about 900 of the latter. According to DTI statistics, the total installed generating capacity at landfill sites in 2004 was 722 MW. Research for Defra by Colder Associates indicates that the volume of methane captured for electricity generation was about 1,070 thousand tonnes (kT) in 2004. An estimated additional 1,307 kt methane was captured and flared at landfill sites. This means that electricity generation and flaring saved greenhouse gas emissions of about 6 million tonnes carbon equivalent (MtC equiv), and about 7.5 MtC equiv, respectively. The total saving from capture was therefore about 13.5MtC equiv. The generating plant produced about 4TWh of electricity, equivalent to saving a further 0.5 million MtC equiv due to reduced emissions at power stations.
19 Dec 2005 : Column 2384W
| Next Section | Index | Home Page |