HL Deb 08 July 1986 vol 478 cc162-4

`2.46 p.m.

Lord Rodney

My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper.

The Question was as follows: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they are favourably disposed toward the bottle bank scheme and whether they have any plans to encourage the spread of these schemes, particularly in urban areas.

Lord Skelmersdale

My Lords, the Government welcome and fully support the bottle bank scheme operated by the glass industry in conjunction with local authorities. A conference was held on Wednesday last to discuss the scope for further expansion of the scheme. It brought together representatives from industry, retailers, local authorities and other interested bodies, under the chairmanship of my honourable friend John Butcher, to see what steps could be taken.

Lord Rodney

My Lords. I thank my noble friend for that encouraging reply. Will he give some indication of the energy-saving potential of the reprocessing of bottles?

Lord Skelmersdale

My Lords, I am afraid I cannot provide my noble friend with details of the actual savings. I shall investigate the matter and write to him and place a copy of my letter in the Library for your Lordships' gaze. It is obvious that melting cullet, as it is called—recycled glass—uses less energy than does making glass from scratch.

Lord Parry

My Lords, is the noble Lord aware that Britain's newest bottle bank is to be opened next Monday in the beautiful seaside resort of Tenby? Does he accept that it is only the natural modesty of the Welsh that prevents me from naming the noble Lord who is to open it? Will he take up the important supplementary question asked by the noble Lord, Lord Rodney, and note that the proximity of the bottle banks to the processing plant is the key to whether we can make the bottle banks effective in terms of national policy? Does he accept that if it is necessary for the bottles to be transported in lorries for considerable distances, that defeats the whole policy and therefore gives point to his Answer to the noble Lord, Lord Rodney?

Lord Skelmersdale

My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Parry. I am delighted to hear about the proposed opening of the bottle bank site in Tenby. According to my figures, it will be the 2,471st site. I should point out that in 1977 there were only 17 sites, so we have done extremely well. On the question of transport, I understand that the Glass Manufacturers' Federation recognises that as cullet is so valuable the economics of transport do not play a great part; and therefore there is no reason from a transport point of view why bottle sites should be near to the various plants.

Lord Constantine of Stanmore

My Lords, I agree entirely with the request to improve the provision of bottle banks. Will the Minister see that consideration is given to the question of noise when the bottles banks are being sited? They create a great deal of noise at night when people want to sleep peacefully, and that should be considered.

Lord Skelmersdale

My Lords, my noble friend raises a valid point. The sites are always provided by the local authorities. Should residents and people nearby have cause to complain about noise pollution, they should refer their queries to the local authority in question.

Lord Strabolgi

My Lords, following the question of the noble Lord on the other side, may I ask whether the noble Lord is aware that the most recent forms of bottle bank—here I must declare an interest—have a pneumatic base and are therefore not nearly so noisy in use? Is he also aware that at the conference to which he alluded, chaired by his honourable friend Mr. John Butcher, there was a commitment to double the number of bottle banks within five years? Is this a fact?

Lord Skelmersdale

My Lords, as regards the first part of the noble Lord's question, no, I was not aware of pneumatic bases. Off the top of my head I would say that the level of noise depends upon how full a particular bank is. Certainly there was a commitment to double the number of sites within five years, which was recognised as a feasible and realisable objective.

Viscount Hanworth

My Lords, would the noble Lord not agree that an alternative to bottle banks is to have a deposit on the bottle? This means that the bottles can go back in the empty lorry after it delivers the new ones. Does he agree that, although this is probably unpopular, it should nevertheless be considered as an alternative where the distances are great?

Lord Skelmersdale

My Lords, even when I was very small most bottles were still returnable and had a deposit on them. But over the years that practice was found to be uneconomic. That is why these days only very few drinks—usually fizzy, alcoholic drinks—are supplied in returnable bottles. This is all because of modern economics, I regret to say.

Lord Morris

My Lords, can my noble friend say what arrangements are made for the disposal of the occasional bottle that is known to leave the Palace of Westminster?

Lord Skelmersdale

My Lords, there is no bottle bank as such, but there are bottle skips.

Lord Bruce of Donington

My Lords, can the noble Lord give a little further information following upon the Question put by the noble Lord, Lord Rodney, as to what plans the Government have to encourage the spread of the schemes? Can the noble Lord give some indication of the direction in which the mind of Her Majesty's Government is moving in the matter and what plans have eventuated from those thoughts?

Lord Skelmersdale

My Lords, my honourable friend the Under-Secretary of State at the Department of Trade and Industry has set up a co-ordinating government policy committee on all sorts of recycling. It has established a recycling advisory unit at Warren Spring Laboratory. It is engaged in the production of a video, encouraging recycling, for dissemination to industry, local authorities and other interested parties. It is planning a series of commitment conferences, one of which I referred to in an earlier supplementary, as well as laymen's guides to energy from waste schemes in the United Kingdom and existing Government support for recycling projects.

Lord Mowbray and Stourton

My Lords, can my noble friend tell me why, when I go north of the Border to my home there, I get 10p on non-alcoholic soda water and fizzy lemonade bottles, but south of the Border, here in London, I get nothing back on my bottles?

Lord Skelmersdale

My Lords, the right answer is, I believe, to refer my noble friend's question to the supplier of the bottle in question.