§ Ms. WalleyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what progress has been made on the implementation of directive 339–185.
§ Mr. AtkinsI have been asked to reply.
Good progress is being made under the United Kingdom's programme for implementing the Beverage Containers Directive. For glass, we are on course to achieve the target of doubling the number of bottle banks to 5,000 by 1992, and the volume of glass being recovered is increasing rapidly: 275,000 tonnes were recycled in 1988. The amount of metal recovered from cans is also increasing and will be boosted still further by the Aluminium Can Recycling Association's recent launch of a nationwide scheme with 250 collection centres. British Steel is encouraging local authorities to become involved in extracting steel cans from household waste and about 900 million cans are now being recovered annually in this way. For plastic containers, both the British Plastics Federation and the British Soft Drinks Association are supporting recycling schemes and are actively participating in the Sheffield Recycling City experiment involving door-to-door collection and separate plastics bottle banks.