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16 Jan 2006 : Column 904W—continued
EU Packaging Directive
Mr. Rogerson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether the UK packaging business recovery and recycling targets for all materials were achieved in 2004; whether she expects the UK to meet EU packaging directive targets for 2008; and if she will make a statement. [40462]
Mr. Bradshaw: The UK met the glass, paper and wood interim business recycling targets in 2004, but narrowly missed the metals (by 0.1 per cent. each) and plastic (by 0.7 per cent.) targets.
The level of achievement attained in 2004 demonstrates that the UK is making good progress towards meeting the next packaging directive targets in 2008 and while the targets are challenging for the UK they are achievable.
Mr. Rogerson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what steps she is taking to increase the collection of packaging waste from households to meet the EU packaging directive targets for 2008; [40463]
(2) whether (a) local authorities and (b) producers are responsible for the collection and recovery of packaging within household waste. [40468]
Mr. Bradshaw: Local authorities have a duty to collect any household waste and to meet individual Statutory Performance Standards for recycling and composting of household waste. Each authority is free to choose the range of materials it collects to meet its target.
In addition, the Household Waste Recycling Act 2003 requires waste collection authorities-subject to certain exemptions-to provide a kerbside collection service of at least two recyclable materials by 2010.
However, the Department has also put in place the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 2005, the Packaging Regulations" which place obligations on businesses to recover and recycle packaging waste. As the packaging waste recycling targets, set in the regulations, increase between now and 2008 it is expected that producers will have to ensure that more packaging waste is extracted from the household waste stream for recycling. Producers will therefore need to work with local authorities e.g. through their packaging compliance schemes and/or accredited reprocessors/exporters, to ensure that packaging materials can be collected by local authorities for recycling, e.g. by co-financing such collections. This is particularly so where producers' needs extend beyond the local authorities' own recycling obligations.
Fisheries
Mr. Hoyle:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what action she expects the Agriculture and Fisheries Council will take at the meeting on 19 December to support the European
16 Jan 2006 : Column 905W
Commission's proposed emergency measures to close the deep water gill net fishery off the west coast of Scotland. [38660]
Mr. Bradshaw: The Agriculture and Fisheries Council agreed to ban the use of fixed netting in deep waters to the west of the British Isles in 2006 with effect from 1 February. The Council also agreed on the need to improve knowledge of the effects of these fisheries and agree that measures to regulate these fisheries should be considered in the light of further scientific advice from the Commission's Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries.
Fixed Penalty Notices
David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many fixed penalty notices have been issued for (a) graffiti, (b) fly-posting and (c) dog fouling in each of the last four years. [42154]
Mr. Bradshaw: The power to issue fixed penalties for both graffiti and fly-posting offences commenced in April 2004.
| Graffiti | Fly-posting | Dog fouling | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001–02 | — | — | 2,461 |
| 2002–03 | — | — | 2,036 |
| 2003–04 | — | — | 2,742 |
| 2004–05 | 19 | 57 | 2,329 |
Home Inspection Packs (Contaminated Land)
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will place inthe Library a copy of the note produced by her Department's Contaminated Land branch on the Council of Property Search Organisations' proposals for a contaminated land report to be included in home inspection packs. [39501]
Mr. Bradshaw: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 19 December 2005, Official Report, column 2380W.
Fly-tipping
Mr. Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many (a) incidents of fly-tipping were reported and (b) prosecutions were made as a result in (i) the Ruislip-Northwood constituency and (ii) the London borough of Hillingdon in each year since 1997; and if she will make a statement. [41827]
Mr. Bradshaw: Defra has worked with the Environment Agency to establish Flycapture, the national database on fly-tipping, which has been operational since April 2004. No national data were previously available on illegal waste disposal or fly-tipping.
Flycapture collects data at local authority level only. The data are probably also an underestimate and are likely to increase as local authorities improve their collection and reporting of the data.
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The London borough of Hillingdon and the Environment Agency have reported the following data to Flycapture:
(2)Average 177 per month.
(3)Average 209 per month.
(4)Data are incomplete.
(5)To date.
Greenhouse Gases
Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what measures the UK Government have proposed to help developing countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. [39728]
Mr. Morley [holding answer 10 January 2006]: The United Kingdom Government has proposed to help developing countries to reduce emissions through a number of different activities. Highlights so far include:
Consolidated support for the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP). Defra will be providing a further £2.5 million pounds per year in 2006–07 and 2007–08. In addition, the FCO will be providing funding of £1 million in 2006–07 and 2007–08 giving a total of £6 million from the UK over the coming two years.
The UK is at the fore of the EU-China Partnership on Climate Change and is leading the near-Zero Emissions Coal (nZEC) project with China. The nZEC proposal was announced at the EU-China Summit on 5 September.
The nZEC project aims to demonstrate coal-fired power generation with carbon capture and storage technology in China by 2020. The technology has the potential to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by some 90 per cent. This is in recognition that carbon dioxide emissions from China's increasing coal use are set to double by 2030.
We have just signed an agreement with the Chinese Government to take this work forward (21 December 2005). The signing of the UK-China MoU is a significant milestone under the EU-China Partnership on Climate Change and a high profile achievement for the UK's Presidency of the EU.
The UK actively promotes use of the Clean Development Mechanisms (COM) and COM related investments:
The UK in its capacity of Presidency of the EU negotiated a package of measures for strengthened COM in Montreal; these include significant institutional and financial measures to improve the transparency and efficiency of the approval process. In particular following COP11 and COP/MOP1 some $8.8 million in additional funding has been agreed for administrative expenses of the Clean Development Mechanism (COM) in 2006—more this year than in the previous four years of operation. The UK is a major contributor, and will contribute $740,000 this coming year.
The United Kingdom is also at the fore of the EU-lndia Initiative on Clean Development and Climate Change, with the aim of promoting cleaner technologies and their use.
During the early part of 2006 we are aiming to agree the Terms of Reference for the Technology Development and Transfer Study and we are hopeful that my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State, may be able to formally launch the project on her visit in March.
Elsewhere, the UK supports research, which will help developing countries deal with climate change. Current research includes an assessment of how to improve climate modelling and monitoring for Africa, and two separate investigations into the impacts of climate change on Chinese and Indian agriculture.
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