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22 Oct 2009 : Column 1594W—continued
All combustion processes in air produce oxides of nitrogen (NOx). Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and nitric acid (NO) are both oxides of nitrogen and are referred to as NOx. Road transport is the main source. At high levels NO2 causes inflammation of the airways. Long-term exposure may affect lung function and respiratory symptoms.
London is currently exceeding the EU Limit Value of 40 microgrammes/m(3) and is not likely to meet this value by the attainment date of 2010. The Council Directive 2008/50/EC on Ambient Air Quality and Cleaner Air for Europe provides for member states to submit plans to the European Commission to postpone the compliance deadline for meeting the limit value for nitrogen dioxide from 2010 to 2015. The UK Government expect to submit such a plan to the Commission in 2010 following consultation early next year.
Carbon Labelling Scheme
Mr. Sarwar: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the proportion of retail sales accounted for by retailers who have agreed to participate in the Carbon Labelling Scheme. [293675]
Joan Ruddock: I have been asked to reply.
Responsibility for carbon labelling policy lies with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. DECC is responsible for the Government's sponsorship of the Carbon Trust (CT), of which the Carbon Label Co. (CLC) is a subsidiary.
The CLC has developed the Carbon Reduction Label to help businesses and consumers understand the carbon footprints of the products and services they use.
DECC has not made an estimate of the proportion of retail sales accounted for by retailers who have adopted the Carbon Reduction Label. More information on the scheme can be obtained from the Carbon Trust direct.
Mr. Sarwar: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the likely (a) reductions in carbon dioxide emissions and (b) savings to manufacturers arising from the Carbon Labelling Scheme. [293676]
Joan Ruddock: I have been asked to reply.
Responsibility for carbon labelling policy lies with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. DECC is responsible for the Government's sponsorship of the Carbon Trust (CT), of which the Carbon Label Co. (CLC) is a subsidiary.
The CLC has developed the Carbon Reduction Label to help businesses and consumers understand the carbon footprints of the products and services they use.
DECC has not made an estimate of the likely reductions in CO2 emissions or savings to manufacturers arising from the adoption of the Carbon Reduction Label. More information on the scheme can be obtained from the Carbon Trust direct.
Domestic Waste: Fees and Charges
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent discussions (a) his Department and (b) the Waste and Resources Action Programme has had with Welsh Assembly Government Ministers on charges for the collection of household waste. [294451]
Dan Norris: DEFRA and Welsh Assembly Government officials are working closely together on the review of Schedule 2 of the Controlled Waste Regulations 1992 and intend to consult jointly.
The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) has not had any discussion with Welsh Assembly Government Ministers on charges for the collection of household waste.
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs with reference to the answer of 11 November 2008, Official Report, column 1006W, on domestic wastes, which local authorities have sought the advice of the Waste and Resources Action Programme on available options for waste incentive schemes to date. [294458]
Dan Norris: General advice on the waste incentive scheme options available was provided by the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) to a significant number of authorities at meetings which WRAP was invited to attend and in response to individual inquiries. WRAP has not kept a detailed record of all the authorities that have been involved in this preliminary way.
Domestic Waste: Fixed Penalties
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when he expects to publish the 2008-09 Flycapture data on fixed penalty notices issued to households for waste offences. [294561]
Dan Norris: DEFRA has commissioned returns from English local authorities on fixed penalty notices issued in 2008-09 for a range of environmental offences, including those relating to waste receptacles. Returns are still outstanding from many local authorities and these are being pursued. Results will be published on the DEFRA website in December.
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the extent to which the proposals in his Department's consultation document on fairer and better environmental enforcement published in July 2009, will affect the (a) frequency and (b) level of financial penalties issued to households for offences relating to household waste. [294565]
Dan Norris: The present fairer and better environmental enforcement proposals and consultation do not extend to local authorities, who are responsible for household waste matters. Any proposals to give local authorities powers to use the civil sanctions enabled by the Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Act 2008 would be subject to a further public consultation and separate secondary legislation, which would be debated in Parliament.
The present proposals would give national environmental regulators an alternative to prosecution in cases when enforcement is necessary and proportionate. The proposals would allow Environment Agency, Natural England and Countryside Council for Wales to take businesses and others with a good general approach to regulation out of the criminal courts when enforcement action was needed. However, regulatory advice and guidance would remain the cornerstone of a well graduated and fair enforcement system. The worst cases of non-compliance would continue to be prosecuted. The proposed changes are designed to strengthen incentives to comply and to promote co-operation between regulator and regulated.
Domestic Waste: Waste Disposal
Mrs. Spelman:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) whether (a) his Department and (b) the Waste and Resources Action
Programme have (i) issued guidance and (ii) allocated funding to local authorities related to audits of the contents of domestic waste receptacles; [294430]
(2) what funding and other support (a) his Department and (b) Waste and Resources Action Programme has provided to local authorities to undertake surveys of the contents of household waste from specific properties; and what guidance his Department has issued on whether the prior consent of the householder is required. [294455]
Dan Norris: DEFRA has not provided any funding or support to local authorities related to audits of the contents of domestic waste receptacles.
Where the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) supports waste composition surveys, it normally contracts this work out directly. Occasionally, when it is part of a wider project, WRAP provides funding to local authorities to carry out the work. In both cases WRAP requires prior consent to be sought from the householders concerned.
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what funding (a) his Department and (b) the Waste and Resources Action Programme provided for local authorities in relation to waste (i) collection and (ii) disposal in the most recent year for which figures are available. [294466]
Dan Norris: In 2008-09 DEFRA directly provided £78.2 million in funding to local authorities outside London via the Waste Infrastructure Capital Grant. £60 million will be made available to London authorities through the London Waste and Recycling Fund for the period 2008-09 to 2010-11. These unringfenced capital grants will be paid to upper tier and unitary authorities to enable them to set up the necessary waste infrastructure to help England meet landfill targets.
DEFRA also provides financial support to local authorities through Private Finance Initiative credits to help accelerate the building of the infrastructure needed to treat residual waste without compromising efforts to minimise waste and increase recycling levels. To date £2.5 billion has been allocated to 37 projects. Further information can be found on DEFRA's website.
The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) provided a total of £2.68 million to local authorities during 2008-09. The funds were spent on local communications campaigns specifically to improve communications with householders about local recycling services and to promote the 'Love Food Hate Waste' campaign. WRAP has no remit in relation to waste disposal and has not, therefore, provided any funds to local authorities in relation to it.
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will place in the Library a copy of his Department's 4Es Model on planning for waste prevention. [294468]
Dan Norris: The 4Es Model was published in "Securing the future: delivering UK sustainable development strategy" (March 2005). This document is available on DEFRA's website.
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent guidance his Department has issued to local authorities on the circumstances in which municipal waste collectors can refuse to collect household waste from a dwelling. [294556]
Dan Norris: The amendment to section 46 of the Environmental Protection Act, made through the Climate Change Act 2008, provides a single point of reference in legislation for local authorities in order to further clarify the existing Government policy that where residents put out their waste in a way that does not meet the conditions set out in a section 46 notice, authorities are not required to collect it.
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether trade waste collected and placed in landfill by (a) local authorities and (b) private sector contractors in a local authority area is reckoned towards that local authority's Landfill Allowance Trading Scheme quota. [294609]
Dan Norris: The Landfill Allowance Trading Scheme (LATS) was set up to reduce the amount of biodegradable municipal waste sent by local authorities to landfill.
The local authority's LATS quota is based on the biodegradable waste fraction of the overall waste arising for that local authority. Where the local authority collects commercial waste that is included as part of its overall waste arising; waste collected by private waste management companies does not form part of the LATS.
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what volume of household waste collected for recycling was (a) incinerated and (b) disposed of in landfill sites in the latest period for which figures are available. [294611]
Dan Norris: WasteDataFlow is used to obtain data on waste collected by local authorities. However, the data requested are not available due to the nature of the questions asked in WasteDataFlow and the data collected.
In 2007-08 the amount of municipal waste sent to a materials recovery facility for recycling was 1,571,586 tonnes. Of this:
(a) 36,465 tonnes was rejected and incinerated for energy recovery; and
(b) 68, 644 tonnes was rejected and landfilled.
In 2007-08 the estimated total amount of household waste that was rejected for recycling was 126,626 tonnes. This is out of a total of 8,840,960 tonnes of household waste collected for recycling. The rejected tonnages include not only waste sent to a materials recovery facility, but also recycling rejected at the point of collection and materials collected for recycling that were not passed through a materials recovery facility.
Materials are rejected due to contamination or due to them not being recyclable.
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent (a) assessment has been made and (b) research has been commissioned by (i) his Department, (ii) the Waste and Resources Action Programme and (iii) the Environment Agency into the burning of household waste by householders. [294619]
Dan Norris: No specific assessment has been made by DEFRA or the Environment Agency of the level of burning of domestic waste by households in England. The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) is not responsible for research or policy on backyard burning.
In 2006 DEFRA published a research project to review complaints received by local authorities about bonfire smoke, which advised on the legal and practical remedies available to local authorities and private individuals.
In addition, DEFRA carried out research into emissions of dioxins from the burning of domestic waste in 2006. The review recommended that further scientific research should be carried out to establish what practical measures could be taken to reduce dioxin emissions from bonfires and domestic combustion and, consequently, exposure to dioxins. Further work in estimating dioxin emissions from domestic burning has subsequently been carried out and another research programme is currently being undertaken by DEFRA which will establish a release inventory for dioxins as well as provide information on the most effective approach for carrying out a public awareness campaign educating the public on the impacts of burning garden and domestic waste with regard to dioxin emissions. This research work is due to conclude in 2011.
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent guidance (a) his Department and (b) the Waste and Resources Action Programme has issued to waste collection authorities on charging householders for (i) new or (ii) replacement household wheeled refuse containers. [294628]
Dan Norris: Neither DEFRA nor the Waste and Resources Action Programme has issued any recent guidance to waste collection authorities on their powers under Section 46(3) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
Mrs. Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what research his Department has commissioned in relation to household waste in the last 18 months. [294652]
Dan Norris: DEFRA's Waste and Resources Evidence Programme (WREP) has just published a major review study to help distil the evidence emerging from research work completed by the Department and other organisations on household waste prevention. In addition, WREP has also commissioned a project looking at approaches for dealing with household hazardous waste and another study investigating waste composition.
Mr. Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will place in the Library a copy of the research report commissioned by his Department with reference (a) WR0105 and (b) WR0106. [294965]
Dan Norris: DEFRA has received the draft final report for WR0105 'Project REDUCE Monitoring and Evaluation-Developing Tools to Measure Waste Prevention' and the project team is currently completing a finalised version ready for publication. The final report will be made publicly available on DEFRA's website.
The project (WR0106) 'Achieving Household Waste Prevention Through Product Service Systems' is publicly available on DEFRA's website.
Litter: Rural Areas
Mr. Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the Campaign to Protect Rural England on measures to reduce the incidence of littering in rural areas. [294996]
Dan Norris: DEFRA Ministers have met with representatives from the Campaign to Protect Rural England three times in the last year to discuss their campaign, Stop the Drop.
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