Recycling (Hansard, 15 July 1992)

§ Ms. Walley
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will assess the restrictions placed on local authorities' spending on recycling and reconsider the standard spending assessment formula to enable local authorities to be assured of sufficient resources to produce the recycling plan.
840W

§ Mr. Robin Squire
Standard spending assessments make proper provision for the whole range of services for which local authorities are responsible. Provision for waste recycling was taken into account in the 1992–93 local government finance settlement. It is for local authorities to determine their own spending priorities in the light of local circumstances.

§ Ms. Walley
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will list those local authorities which(a) have submitted their recycling plan within the time scale laid down by his Department and (b) have not yet submitted their recycling plan;
(2) of those authorities which have not submitted a recycling plan, what reasons have been given for failure to submit one within the time scale.

§ Mr. Maclean
Local authorities are not due to submit their draft recycling plans until 1 August 1992.
By 13 July 1992 plans had been received from:
London boroughs

Hammersmith and Fulham

Kensington and Chelsea
Metropolitan boroughs

Calderdale

Kirklees

Leeds
District councils

Adur

Arun

Bassetlaw

Braintree

Broadland

Chelmsford

Chester City

Craven

Crawley

King's Lynn and West Norfolk

Leicester City

Malvern Hills

North Devon

North Kesteven

North Warwickshire

Nottingham City

Restormel

St. Albans

St. Edmunsbury

Shepway

Southend-on-Sea

South Wight

Suffolk Coastal

Waverley

West Lindsey
841W

§ Ms. Walley
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what are his current targets for recycling of(a) domestic and (b) commercial waste; and if he will make a statement.

§ Mr. Maclean
The Government are maintaining the target set out in the 1990 White Paper on the environment, "This Common Inheritance", Cm 1200, the recycling of half our recyclable household waste by the end of the century. That translates to about 25 per cent. of all household waste. We have no specific targets for recycling commercial waste where the increasing costs of waste disposal are expected to act as a sufficient incentive to encourage waste producers to look for alternative ways of dealing with their waste. The proposed EC directive on packaging is expected to lead to the adoption of further targets for waste minimisation and recycling.

§ Ms. Walley
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what economic inducements he has given to creating markets for recycled waste; and if he will make a statement.

§ Mr. Maclean
It is expected that the Environmental Protection Act 1990 will lead to increasing costs of landfilling and incinerating waste. In most cases, this will provide a significant economic inducement to alternative methods of waste treatment, including recycling. To ensure that the market is operating correctly in these areas, the Government are currently undertaking studies of landfill pricing and of economic instruments, the results from which are expected during the summer. In addition, grants to assist in the development of new processes and facilities are available, and have been given, to the recycling industries under the environmental technology innovation scheme and other routes. Some of these projects are concerned with identifying and overcoming technological barriers to market development.

§ Ms. Walley
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what criteria were used when determining the successful supplementary credit approvals for recycling issues; and by what means those criteria were made known to local authorities;
(2) if he will give his reasons for rejecting Newcastle-under-Lyme's application for supplementary credit approvals: and if he will now reconsider his decision.

§ Mr. Maclean
The criteria against which local authorities' bids for supplementary credit approvals—SCAs—for recycling schemes for 1992–93 were assessed were set out in the Department's letter of 23 December 1991 inviting local authorities to submit bids.
Priority was given to schemes which: could be shown to produce material for which there is a guaranteed market; involved partnership with the private sector, or a significant element of private finance; presented opportunities for offering employment to people with learning difficulties.
Priority was also given to the further development of schemes which has been awarded SCAs for 1991–92, including those which were justifiably delayed in that financial year.
In announcing allocations to local authorities on 27 April 1992, we made it clear that we had favoured schemes to collect chlorofluorocarbons for recycling, but had given low priority to "bank" schemes where we consider that 842W industry should be pressed to provide the equipment and to new kerbside schemes pending the outcome of the existing pilot kerbside schemes.
Applications from more than 140 authorities worth more than £31 million in total were received for the £15 million of SCAs available for 1992–93. Allocation of project approvals from the total resources available was determined on the basis of a careful examination of every bid, paying particular attention to the priorities set out in the bidding letter.
Resources for recycling SCAs for 1992–93 are fully committed. We shall write to local authorities by Christmas inviting bids for SCAs for 1993–94 for recycling schemes.

§ Ms. Walley
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what assessment he has made of the extent to which charges for recycling credits agreed by waste disposal authorities meet the guidelines of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

§ Mr. Maclean
Section 52(1) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 requires a waste disposal authority to pay recycling credits to a waste collection authority in respect of waste retained for recycling of such amounts representing its net saving of expenditure on the disposal of the waste as the waste disposal authority determines. Non-compliance with this duty is a matter for the district auditor.

§ Ms. Walley
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the charges for recycling credits agreed by each waste disposal authority.

§ Mr. Maclean
This information is not available centrally. Ways in which such information might be collected nationally are currently being considered as part of the Department of the Environment's wider review of waste management statistics.