HC Deb 04 December 1996 vol 286 c642W
Mr. Meacher

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the percentage of(a) glass and (b) steel recycled in the United Kingdom in (i) 1994 and (ii) 1995; and if he will list such data as are available on recycling rates for (1) the United Kingdom and (2) other European Union member states. [6995]

Mr. Clappison

No definitive information is held centrally on the amount of glass and steel recycled in the United Kingdom. The latest estimates that my Department has on the amount of glass cullet and ferrous scrap that is recycled as a percentage of consumption in the United Kingdom during 1994 and 1995 are as follows:

Percentage
1994 19951
Glass cullet 28 26
Ferrous scrap 42 40
1Provisional

No information is available on the amount of steel or ferrous scrap recycled by other European Union member states. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development includes in its bi-annual "Compendium of Environmental Data" information on the amount of glass a number of EU member states have recycled as a percentage of apparent consumption. Available information is shown in the table, but care must be taken in drawing comparisons of recycling performance between different countries as the data are not collected on a consistently defined bases.

1994 Per cent.
Denmark 67
France 48
Germany 75
Greece 29
Ireland 31
Italy 54
Portugal 32
Spain 31
United Kingdom 28