§ Lord Glentoranasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the United Kingdom will face fines from 2010 onwards if it fails to comply with the European Union laws regarding the recycling of household waste; and whether they will introduce measures to increase the collection of recyclable waste on the doorstep. [HL1556]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Whitty)The EC Landfill Directive requires the United Kingdom, by 2010, to reduce the amount of biodegradable municipal waste going to landfill to 75 per cent of the total amount of biodegradable municipal waste produced in 1995, and then to 50 per cent by 2013 and 35 per cent by 2020. Failure to meet the target will place the UK in breach of the directive. However, any sanctions to be taken in the case of a failure to meet the target would be a matter for the European Commission.
67WAWaste Strategy 2000 sets out targets for doubling the recycling and composting of household waste in three years and nearly tripling it in five years in order to ensure that Landfill Directive targets are met. We have underpinned these targets by setting statutory performance standards for each local authority to achieve by 2003–04 and 2005–06.
Kerbside collection of recyclables can be a very effective means of increasing recycling rates but it is for individual waste collection authorities to determine how best to meet their statutory recycling targets.