§ Mr. BattleTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will introduce measures to protect the economic viability of recycling of waste paper from the effects of the current market price.
§ Mr. TrippierNo. Direct Government intervention artifically to maintain the price of waste paper through subsidising collection costs or other means would be ineffective or damaging since paper is an internationally traded commodity and users could switch to imported supplies. Central interference in the market overseas has been shown to drive down the price of waste paper and hamper recycling. The priority must be to encourage the market for recycled paper and expand industrial capacity to process waste paper. My Department and the Department of Trade and Industry are specifically examining the waste paper market to assess the economic and environmental benefits of waste paper recycling, the means of collecting waste paper, what new uses for waste paper might be promoted and how demand for recycled paper might be stimulated. Government Departments are also considering their use of paper with a view to increasing the use of recycled products wherever feasible and economic.