§ 7. Mr. Nabarroasked the President of the Board of Trade whether the aggregate consignment of salvage waste paper to the mills during November, 1950, was at a rate commensurate with the national requirement of 1,000,000 tons during 1951; and whether he will state the tonnage of the aggregate November consignment to the mills.
Mr. H. WilsonStatistics of mills' receipts of waste paper for the month of November, 1950, are not yet available. In October, however, receipts were at the rate of 910,000 tons per annum, a record figure; but consumption was even higher, at the rate of 1,012,000 tons per annum. A considerable increase in collections is, therefore, still required.
§ Mr. NabarroWould the right hon. Gentleman please bear in mind that the announcements made yesterday about the level of November exports and the ending of Marshall Aid on 31st December, are likely to prove that the figure of one million tons required next year is an under-estimate, and will he therefore make supplementary arrangements?
Mr. WilsonI am certainly aware that we shall need vastly increased supplies, but, of course, the October figures which I have quoted did not take advantage of the recent increases in supplies of waste paper under the Waste Paper Recovery Association's scheme.
§ Lieut.-Colonel Sir Thomas MooreCould not the Minister consider offering a reward to the general public to encourage them to return their daily and weekly papers to some central depot?
Mr. WilsonAs the hon. and gallant Gentleman will probably be aware, the Waste Paper Recovery Association is working out a scheme involving prizes to local authorities which do best under this scheme.
§ 8. Mr. Nabarroasked the President of the Board of Trade what response has been forthcoming to his recent appeals for a resumption of waste paper recovery on a national scale; and whether he is satisfied that such recovery is now proceeding at a rate sufficient to meet the demands of the defence programme and export trade during 1951.
Mr. H. WilsonIt is too early to estimate the extent of the response to my appeal and to the new salvage contest which has only just been launched by the Waste Paper Recovery Association, but I understand that already some 50 local authorities have decided to resume collection. Existing supplies of waste paper should provide enough paper and board for the defence programme and the export trade, but unless waste paper collections are increased there may be inadequate supplies of paper and board for less important uses.
§ Mr. NabarroIs it possible for the President to relate his statistics of the 50 additional local authorities to the number of local authorities which were collecting waste paper before, and state what is the figure of those now collecting?
§ Lieut.-Colonel LiptonWill my right hon. Friend examine the extent to which waste paper is wasted through newsagents not being allowed to return unsold copies to the Newspaper Proprietors' Association?
§ Mr. KeelingIs the President aware that in rural areas one field of salvage which would yield hundreds of tons, namely, that of old telephone directories, is completely neglected, since neither the local authorities nor the Post Office will collect them?