§ Ms. WalleyTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement on the reasons for the recent fall in the United Kingdom's recycling rate for paper.
§ Mr. EggarThe recycling rate for paper can he measured in two ways: the proportion of waste paper used in the production of paper and board in the United Kingdom or the amount of waste paper recovered as a proportion of paper consumed in the United Kingdom.
The most recent figures available to my Department show that the proportion of waste paper used in production in the first half of 1992 was, at 59.7 per cent., identical to the rate one year earlier. This was in a period in which United Kingdom production of paper and hoard increased by 2.8 per cent. Recovery tonnages also increased over the period from 1,585,000 tonnes in the first half of 1991 to 1,616,000 tonnes in the first half of 1992. However, since United Kingdom consumption in the period increased at a faster rate than United Kingdom production, the recovery rate fell from 33.7 per cent. to 32.5 per cent.
My right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade has met representatives of the paper and board industry to discuss the pattern of trade and, in particular, the impact of changing environmental legislation in other member states of the European Community.