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29 Jan 2008 : Column 238W—continued
EU Emissions Trading Scheme: Energy Generation
Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the impact on the environment of payments to UK energy companies under the EU emissions trading scheme. [181452]
Mr. Woolas:
No payments have been made to UK energy companies under the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) although they have received free allowances which have a value. In the first two years of the EU ETS (2005 and 2006) the power sector was allocated 136.9 million tonnes, compared with emissions of 174.04 million tonnes in 2003. In 2006 the
power sector emitted 45.9 million tonnes above its allocation, leading to a requirement for UK energy companies to buy allowances from other installations, thereby ensuring that total emissions remained within the EU cap.
Fisheries: Yorkshire and The Humber
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what research his Department has conducted of the levels of fish and shellfish off the coast of Yorkshire. [182706]
Jonathan Shaw: Both the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas) and the Marine and Fisheries Agency (MFA) operate a routine sampling programme in order to determine the quantities and size-range of fish and shellfish landed by UK vessels operating off the Yorkshire coast. Cefas also monitors fishery discards by placing scientific observers on board fishing vessels.
Additionally, the levels of fish and shellfish stocks off the Yorkshire coast are studied during trawling and potting surveys funded under the Fishery Science Partnership and also Cefas’s annual third quarter trawl survey of the North Sea.
Flood Control
Mr. Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what progress has been made in implementing the 15 urgent recommendations of the Pitt review; and if he will make a statement. [182703]
Mr. Woolas: We have accepted all the urgent recommendations from the interim report of the Pitt review and are working with other organisations involved in taking them forward as quickly as possible.
Floods: Insurance
Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans he has in relation to a joint fund with insurance companies to enable leaseholders at risk of flooding to (a) improve defences and (b) re-locate. [182227]
Mr. Woolas: Total central and local government spend on management of flood and coastal erosion risk will be some £600 million this year, rising incrementally to £800 million in 2010-11. This will be invested largely in works on the ground carried out by the operating authorities, the Environment Agency, local authorities and Internal Drainage Boards, to benefit many communities around the country. We are undertaking a joint review with the Association of British Insurers of its Statement of Principles in relation to insurance and flood risk but there are no plans for a joint fund with insurance companies at present.
Fly Tipping: Easington
John Cummings: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much was spent on the clean-up of fly tipping in the District of Easington in (a) 2002, (b) 2005 and (c) 2007. [182915]
Joan Ruddock: Data are only available from 2004 onwards.
I have arranged for a table to be placed in the Library of the House showing the number of fly-tipping incidents, estimated clearance costs and prosecutions recorded in each local authority by local authorities on Flycapture for 2004-05, 2005-06 and 2006-07.
Following the release of the 2006-07 Flycapture statistics on 9 October 2007, this information has been sent to all MPs.
It is also available to download electronically on DEFRA's Flycapture website at:
Fly Tipping: Fines
Mr. Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what records his Department collects on the number of fines issued by local authorities for fly-tipping offences in relation to putting out household rubbish (a) at the wrong time, (b) in breach of a closed lid policy and (c) in breach of a no side waste collection policy. [182223]
Joan Ruddock: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 10 January 2008, Official Report , column 753W.
Fly Tipping: Wirral
Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what the total cost of clean-up of fly-tipping was in Wirral, South in (a) 2007, (b) 2003 and (c) 1997; [182307]
(2) how many incidents of fly-tipping there were in Wirral, South in the past (a) year, (b) five years and (c) 10 years. [182308]
Joan Ruddock [holding answer 25 January 2008]: Data are only available from 2004 onwards.
I have arranged for a table to be placed in the Library of the House showing the number of fly-tipping incidents, estimated clearance costs and prosecutions recorded in each local authority by local authorities on Flycapture for 2004-05, 2005-06 and 2006-07.
Following the release of the 2006-07 Flycapture statistics on 9 October 2007, this information has been sent to all MPs.
It is also available to download electronically on DEFRA's Flycapture website at:
Inland Waterways
Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many and what percentage of miles of inland waterways are (a) publicly owned, (b) privately owned and not accessible by the public and (c) privately owned and accessible by the public. [181962]
Jonathan Shaw:
DEFRA sponsors the three main navigation authorities—British Waterways, the Environment Agency and the Broads Authority—which together manage
approximately 2,800 miles of inland waterways in England and Wales for public benefit. The Department does not hold information relating to other waterways.
Landfill: Health Hazards
Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what research his Department has conducted on the potential hazards of re-using landfill sites for recreational land. [182309]
Joan Ruddock [holding answer 25 January 2008]: DEFRA has not carried out any recent research on the potential hazards of re-using landfill sites for recreational land.
However, the Construction Industry Research and Information Association (CIRIA) has conducted research looking at the remedial engineering aspects associated with closed landfills and has produced a report written specifically with redevelopers in mind. The principles of the approach laid out in the report draw heavily from the substantive research conducted by the former Department of the Environment and the Environment Agency in the 1980s and 1990s.
The document (Barry et al (2001) Remedial Engineering for Closed Landfill Sites, Construction Industry Research and Information Association (CIRIA) Report C557, ISBN 0-86017-557-X) provides guidance to designers and regulators on the principal statutory, technical and environmental factors which can influence the redevelopment of former landfill sites. The report summarises that the suitability of sites for particular uses will depend on several factors such as age, depth and nature of wastes, in addition to the site's environmental setting and conventional land-use planning aspects of redevelopment.
Landfill: Wirral
Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what percentage of Wirral, South’s waste was put into landfill in (a) 2007 and (b) 2003. [182297]
Joan Ruddock: The metropolitan borough of Wirral is a Waste Collection Authority and disposal statistics are not therefore available. However, percentages for Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority show 77.57 per cent. of its waste was landfilled in 2006-07 and 91.3 per cent. in 2002-03.
Marine Manifesto Organisation
Mr. Syms: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what progress has been made on implementing the 2005 manifesto commitment to create a marine manifesto organisation. [183102]
Jonathan Shaw: As set out in the White Paper “A Sea Change”, published in March 2007, the UK Government intends to use the Marine Bill to set up a new marine management organisation to deliver many of our objectives for the marine area.
The Government are committed to publishing a draft Marine Bill as part of the legislative programme in this 2007-08 session of Parliament. We expect this
will be in the spring of 2008. The timetable for the introduction of a Marine Bill to, and passage through, Parliament will be subject to the outcome of scrutiny of the draft Bill and the availability of parliamentary time.
Alongside preparing the legislation, we are planning the practical steps to be taken to set up the organisation.
Nitrates: Pollution
Mr. Heath: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the water industry on the use of anaerobic digesters on farms to reduce nitrate pollution. [182046]
Mr. Woolas: My Department is committed to making the most of the potential of anaerobic digestion to contribute to our climate change and wider environmental objectives, including reducing nitrate pollution. A number of discussions have taken place with water stakeholders including companies.
We are encouraging and facilitating communication between interested parties in industry, regulators, government delivery bodies and non-governmental bodies about meeting these goals.
We will work with stakeholders, including the water industry, to develop and disseminate information on best practice and technology for the use of anaerobic digestion in a way that is both cost effective and beneficial to the environment, for example through DEFRA’s New Technologies Demonstrator Programme and through advice to farmers.
More information on anaerobic digestion and what action the Government are taking to support its uptake is available in the Anaerobic Digestion Working Paper, published alongside the UK Biomass Strategy and on the DEFRA website at:
Plastics: Biodegradability
Mr. Randall: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans he has to introduce a (a) quality assurance scheme and (b) kite mark for biodegradable plastics. [175742]
Joan Ruddock: The Government have no plans for a new quality assurance scheme or kite mark for biodegradable plastics.
One of the main applications for biodegradable plastics in the UK at present is in packaging where agreed standards already exist. Since the development of the ED packaging regulations, the European standard for compostable and biodegradable packaging—EN 13432—has been adopted in the UK. BS EN 13427:2000 provides a framework within which this and four other standards (BS EN 13429, BS EN 13430, BS EN 13431, and BS EN 13432) may be used together to support a claim that packaging is in compliance with the essential requirements for it to be placed on the market, as required by the Directive
These standards ensure that a product is biodegradable, compostable, and safe. In order to gain certification to BS EN13432, the final product must be fully tested and
approved. Only if it is certified under BS EN13432, is it acceptable for recovery through biological treatment under the UK packaging recovery note scheme.
There are a number of certification bodies across the EU. In the UK the main one is the Composting Association, which operates a certification scheme in partnership with the German certification body, Din Certco.
Plastics: Recycling
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 9 January 2008, Official Report, column 521W, on plastics: recycling, if he will commission research to determine the amount of (a) non-bottle shaped and (b) bottled shaped domestic plastics packaging that is (i) recycled into new products in the UK, (ii) landfilled and (iii) exported for reprocessing in other countries; and if he will make a statement. [181662]
Joan Ruddock: My Department has no plans to commission specific research on the destination of non-bottle shaped and bottle-shaped plastic packaging originating from the household waste stream. Various data are already collected by this Department and HM Treasury on the handling and destination of plastic packaging.
Based on 2006 figures, the UK recovered 457 kilotonnes of plastic; comprising 22 per cent. of all plastic packaging entering the waste stream, which amounts to approximately 2.12 million tonnes. 166 kilotonnes of the plastic recovered is reprocessed in the UK and 291 kilotonnes is exported.
It is estimated that non-bottle mixed plastic packaging arising from the domestic waste stream is around one million tonnes per year. In 2006, around 132,000 tonnes of plastic bottles were collected and recycled from UK households.
The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) is undertaking trials with a number of technologies with the aim of understanding the best ways to handle mixed plastics from an environmental, economical and technological perspective. The programme is investigating three main areas: collection, reprocessing, and end markets. Different recycling and recovery options are being considered as part of this work, including reprocessing mixed plastics into new plastics, incineration, chemical treatment and even turning them into diesel. WRAP'S focus on mixed plastics follows on from the successful uptake of plastic bottle recycling.
Mr. Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what his strategy is for increasing the number of facilities for reprocessing plastic waste in the UK. [182380]
Joan Ruddock: According to studies carried out by the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) on the plastic processing capacity/supply relationship, the indication is that the UK, along with most of Europe, in fact has excess capacity to process plastic waste. The exception to this is for plastic bottles, and to some extent waste electrical and electronic equipment plastics, where growth in collection has supported a substantial growth in reprocessing capacity.
However, this is a complex area, and much of the existing capacity is too old, too small or targeting the wrong end products. Many plants are therefore investing in new capacity or updating and consolidating existing plants, some with support from WRAP. WRAP has a number of projects designed to maximise the amount and quality of recyclate, including plastic, used in UK manufacturing operations.
WRAP'S focus on mixed plastics follows on from the successful uptake of plastic bottle recycling. Plastic bottle recycling has significantly increased in recent years, with around 132,000 tonnes of plastic bottles collected and recycled from UK households in 2006.
Sustainable Development
Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when he expects the Sustainable Development Commission to publish its Sustainable Development in Government report for 2006-07. [181960]
Mr. Woolas: The Government's independent watchdog, the Sustainable Development Commission, is due to publish its “Sustainable Development in Government” report for 2006-07 in mid-March 2008.
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