§ 22. Mr. CarttissTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what steps he is taking to encourage recycling of waste in Government Departments and in the House.
§ Mr. Heathcoat-AmoryThe recycling of waste is a matter for each Department to arrange in the light of local circumstances and other requirements such as security. We are, through the interdepartmental committee on business and the environment, stressing to colleagues the need to review carefully their waste disposal arrangements in order to maximise the opportunities for recycling.
§ 111. Mr. ButlerTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what levels of waste recycling are achieved by waste disposal authorities; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Heathcoat-AmoryThere is at present no comprehensive record of the levels of waste recycling achieved by waste disposal authorities. However, my Department is about to launch a survey of local authorities which will investigate, among other things, the current extent of recycling activity by local authorities. In addition, under the provisions of the Environmental Protection Bill, which received its Second Reading on 15 January, waste collection authorities will be required to prepare recycling plans to enable their performance in740W recycling to be assessed and waste disposal authorities should have regard to the desirability of including in any contract for waste disposal terms or conditions designed to maximise the recycling of waste.
§ 99. Mr. BrightTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what steps he intends to take to encourage local authorities to achieve targets of recycling 50 per cent. of household waste by the year 2000.
§ Mr. Heathcoat-AmoryLocal authorities will be encouraged through the provisions of the Environmental Protection Bill to improve their recycling performance. In particular, waste collection authorities will be given specific powers to facilitate recycling and will be required to prepare detailed recycling plans. Waste disposal authorities will be required to have regard to the desirability of including in any contract for the disposal of waste terms or conditions designed to maximise the recycling of waste, and waste regulation authorities will be required to give priority to recycling when considering disposal options. The provisions in the Bill will be followed up with detailed guidance to local authorities about means of encouraging recycling.
The Government are also supporting specific initiatives involving local authorities such as the recycling city project in Sheffield which is pioneering new methods of collecting and processing recyclables.
§ 63. Mr. David DavisTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what assessment he has made of the success to date of the recycling city project in Sheffield.
§ Mr. Heathcoat-AmoryMy Department, together with the Department of Trade and Industry and the Industry Council for Packaging and the Environment (INC PEN), is funding a three-year research contract to monitor and evaluate the UK2000 recycling city project in Sheffield. A report on the first six months of that research is expected in March. While it is still early to make any conclusive assessment of the success of the project, it is already apparent that important progress has been made by the various industries involved in the provision of facilities to enable the public to recycle their waste and that the response to those facilities has been enthusiastic, with up to three quarters of the people served by the kerbside collection scheme taking an active part.