Draft Landfill (Maximum Landfill Amount) Regulations 2011
The Committee consisted of the following Members:
† Benyon, Richard (Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Burden, Richard (Birmingham, Northfield) (Lab)
† Coffey, Ann (Stockport) (Lab)
† Cunningham, Mr Jim (Coventry South) (Lab)
† Farron, Tim (Westmorland and Lonsdale) (LD)
† Goodwill, Mr Robert (Scarborough and Whitby) (Con)
† Hemming, John (Birmingham, Yardley) (LD)
Hepburn, Mr Stephen (Jarrow) (Lab)
† Jones, Graham (Hyndburn) (Lab)
† Kawczynski, Daniel (Shrewsbury and Atcham) (Con)
† Lopresti, Jack (Filton and Bradley Stoke) (Con)
† Meacher, Mr Michael (Oldham West and Royton) (Lab)
† Norman, Jesse (Hereford and South Herefordshire) (Con)
Paisley, Ian (North Antrim) (DUP)
† Parish, Neil (Tiverton and Honiton) (Con)
† Phillips, Stephen (Sleaford and North Hykeham) (Con)
† Pritchard, Mark (The Wrekin) (Con)
† Reed, Mr Jamie (Copeland) (Lab)
Glenn McKee, Committee Clerk
† attended the Committee
First Delegated Legislation Committee
Monday 5 September 2011
[Mr David Crausby in the Chair]
Draft
Landfill (Maximum Landfill Amount) Regulations
2011
4.30 pm
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Richard Benyon): I beg to move,
That the Committee has considered the draft Landfill (Maximum Landfill Amount) Regulations 2011.
It is good to have you overseeing our proceedings, Mr Crausby. I welcome back hon. Members on both sides of the Committee after the summer recess and I look forward to their involvement in the debate.
The purpose of the regulations is to set new maximum amounts of biodegradable municipal waste that may be sent to landfill. The regulations apply to England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the United Kingdom as a whole. The new amounts replace the maximum amounts set out in the previous regulations, the Landfill (Scheme Year and Maximum Landfill Amount) Regulations 2004.
The European Union landfill directive sets challenging targets for diverting waste from landfill. That is in line with its overall objective of reducing the negative effects of landfill on the environment, including reducing the production of methane gas from landfills. That fits with the Government’s view, as stated in the recently published waste review, that landfill should be the last resort for biodegradable waste.
The new targets, and the definition of municipal waste set out in the directive, were transposed into UK legislation by the Waste and Emissions Trading Act 2003, the so-called WET Act, which also set up the landfill allowance schemes to deliver that reduction. At the time, the schemes and the definition of municipal waste applied only to waste collected by local authorities. Discussions with the European Commission, however, have led us to agree that the UK’s approach was too narrowly focused. Our environmental objectives would be better addressed by a broader interpretation. The UK has changed its interpretation of municipal waste so that more commercial waste collected by the private sector is subject to the diversion targets.
The revised targets reflected in the regulations have been agreed with the European Commission and the devolved Administrations. The reclassification of municipal waste and the revised targets are not expected to change significantly the amount of waste with which local authorities and the private sector respectively deal.
Furthermore, it is not necessary to introduce new measures to meet the new targets. Continued increases in the level of landfill tax, and other policies that encourage the prevention, recycling and recovery of waste, are sufficient. As announced in the waste review,
the targets will be met while removing a burden on local authorities, because England’s landfill allowance trading scheme will end after 2012-13.4.34 pm
Mr Jamie Reed (Copeland) (Lab): It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship again, Mr Crausby. I offer a warm and generous welcome back to the Minister and his departmental team—I trust that they have had a restful summer. I fear that things are going to get busier.
I do not intend to keep the Committee longer than need be. I simply note the challenging targets laid down in the regulations, particularly for England. Will the Minister give some indication of how those targets will be met, particularly given the absence of a recycling target for England? There does not appear to be anything like a waste incineration strategy, so will one be introduced? Are there any plans to introduce recycling targets for England? We all wish to see the targets achieved.
4.35 pm
Richard Benyon: I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his support for the sensible proposals. He rightly pointed out that they are uncontentious, and he raised two specific points.
On how the UK will meet its new targets, the landfill tax is undoubtedly the driver—the primary incentive—for diverting waste from landfill. The Government are committed to increasing the landfill tax to £80 a tonne by 2014-15, and to its remaining at least at that level until 2020. The tax and other policies to encourage the prevention, recycling and recovery of waste are sufficient to meet the new targets. In fact, the measures mean that the targets can be met without lapse because, as I said earlier, one scheme will end after the 2012-13 scheme year, which will remove a burden on local authorities.
The hon. Gentleman asked about the Government’s position on energy from waste. We support efficient recovery from residual waste. Our aim is to get the most energy out of genuinely residual waste, not to get the most waste into energy recovery.
The hon. Gentleman mentioned recycling targets. Targets in specific areas can be distorting and have perverse consequences. Our ambition is to have as much waste recycled as possible, but we are not convinced that it is right to set targets for individual areas. We are signed up to a national target—for 50% of waste to be recycled—which we are on the fast track to meeting. It is important for local authorities to develop systems for dealing with waste that suit their area. The hon. Gentleman and I represent areas with large rural populations, but other hon. Members represent urban areas, where waste sometimes has to be taken a long distance to be dealt with. It is important to introduce all the incentives and have all the measures in place to ensure that we meet the target nationally and, if possible, exceed it, which there is a good chance of doing. However, we should not impose a national, one-size-fits-all system on local areas, because that might have perverse consequences in some places.