§ Mr. SayeedTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans the Government have to promote a national recycling strategy, with particular reference to the targets set for recycling within councils' waste(a) collection and (b) disposal policies. [19707]
§ Mr. MeacherThe Government set out their strategy for delivering sustainable waste management in 'Waste Strategy 2000', published in May last year. Minimising waste production and maximising the re-use and recycling of waste is at the heart of this strategy and we have set statutory targets under Best Value for local authorities to double the amount of household waste recycled by 2003–04 and treble it by 2005–06. Targets have been set for each collection and disposal authority in England.
We have recently published a consultation paper on the operation and distribution of a new waste minimisation and recycling fund in England. The fund was agreed in Spending Review 2000 and provides £140 million over the next two years. The fund is designed to support better waste management practices including waste minimisation, re-use and recycling.
§ Mr. SayeedTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if the Government will achieve the packaging waste recovery and recycling targets for 2001. [22593]
§ Mr. MeacherIt is too early to say. Reprocessing of packaging waste reported by accredited reprocessors for the first three quarters of 2001 is over three million tonnes, but we do not expect to have figures for the whole of 2001 until early next year.