HL Deb 11 July 1995 vol 565 cc1562-3

146 Clause 77, page 90, line 49, at end insert: 'recovery", in relation to products or materials, includes—

  1. (a) composting, or any other form of transformation by biological processes, of products or materials; or
  2. (b) the obtaining, by any means, of energy from products or materials;'.

147 Clause 78. page 91, line 37. at end insert: '(dd) the registration of persons who are subject to a producer responsibility obligation and who are not members of registered exemption schemes, the imposition of requirements in connection with such registration, the variation of such requirements, the making of applications for such registration, the period for which any such registration is to remain in force and the cancellation of any such registration;'.

148 Page 91, line 48, after 'any' insert 'such'.

149 Page 92, line 4, leave out 'for registration received by it;' and insert 'received by it for registration of exemption schemes;'.

150 Page 92, line 22, at end insert:

  1. '(v) on the making of an application for, or for the renewal of, registration of a person required to register under the regulations;
  2. (vi) in respect of the renewal of the registration of that person;'.

151 Page 92, line 27, leave out 'in which—(i)' and insert: '(i) in which'.

152 Page 92, line 37, at end insert: `(ss) the imposition on prescribed persons of duties to maintain records, and furnish to the Secretary of State or to the appropriate Agency returns, in such form as may be prescribed of such information as may be prescribed for any purposes of, or for any purposes connected with, or related to, sections 77 to 79 of this Act or any regulations;'.

153 Page 92, line 41, at end insert 'or persons required to register under the regulations;'.

The Earl of Lindsay

My Lords, I beg to move that the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendments Nos. 146 to 153 en bloc.

During our Committee stage my noble friend Lord Wade moved an amendment to clarify that the term "recovery" included energy recovery. My noble friend Lord Ullswater said then that we would consider whether such an amendment would be useful. Although we have always used the term "recovery" to include any form of value recovery, including energy recovery, we accepted the point and an amendment was moved in another place. This amendment clarifies that the term "recovery" includes energy recovery and composting.

During Committee stage in another place an amendment was proposed to enable the regulations which will he made under this legislation to make provision for the registration of persons who are not members of a registered exemption scheme. There is already provision in the clauses for the registration of exemption schemes, and the suggestion was that this should be extended to those who choose to take the individual compliance route. Although it has always been the Government's intention to ensure the lightest touch possible in the producer responsibility legislation, we saw the likelihood of there being considerable benefit in some cases in individual registration. Amendments Nos. 147 to 150 and Amendment No. 153 are a series of amendments to enable individual registration which were moved in another place at Report stage.

Amendment No. 151 merely corrects a grammatical error.

I turn now to Amendment No. 152. In considering the producer responsibility clauses further, it became apparent that in order to construct an adequate database for a particular waste stream, including the level of re-use, recovery and recycling, we would need to collect data both from individual firms and from exemption schemes. Most obviously, data will be needed to monitor progress in meeting targets and, more immediately, in the case of packaging waste, to demonstrate to the European Commission evidence of compliance with the targets set by the EC Directive on Packaging and Packaging Waste. An amendment to allow data to be collected from individual firms and from exemption schemes was therefore promoted in another place. We shall, of course, take the necessary steps to ensure that commercial confidentiality is maintained and in setting up systems we shall also endeavour to observe the principles of deregulation and minimising burdens on business. I commend the amendments to the House.

Moved, That the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendments Nos. 146 to 153.—(The Earl of Lindsay.)

On Question, Motion agreed to.