§ Ms. WalleyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what action he has taken to promote the implementation of policies to ensure that safe and effective arrangements are made for the disposal of industrial waste in the country of origin; what steps he has taken to encourage the adoption of this policy by other countries: and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. BaldryThe United Kingdom has taken a leading part in persuading the international community to accept the principle that industrial and other wastes should be disposed of at environmentally sound facilities in the country of production. The OECD decision-recommendation on the reduction of transfrontier movements of wastes of 31 January 1991 requires member countries to dispose of their wastes in an environmentally satisfactory fashion as far as possible in their own territory. EC directive 91/156 of 18 March 1991 requires member states to dispose of waste to a high level of environmental protection and to establish an adequate network of disposal facilities to enable the Community as a whole to become self-sufficient in waste disposal and member states to move towards that aim individually. The United Kingdom has been advocating the importance of self-sufficiency during the current negotiations on the draft regulation on shipments of waste within, into and out of the European Community which would enable member states to ratify the Basel convention on the control of transboundary movements of hazardous wastes.