HC Deb 15 October 2001 vol 372 cc1068-73W
Sue Doughty

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will pilot schemes for pyrolysis, gasification and anaerobic digestion as techniques of waste disposal; and if she will make a statement. [4148]

Mr. Meacher

[holding answer 16 July 2001]A number of facilities are already being developed to demonstrate the full capabilities of these processes with respect to a range of wastes. I am keen that these possibilities should be pursued. That is why energy produced from the biodegradable fraction of waste by these new technologies is supported in the Renewables Obligation.

Sue Doughty

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will introduce statutory separation at source of household waste in England and Wales; and if she will make a statement. [4153]

Mr. Meacher

[holding answer 16 July 2001]The Government have set challenging statutory recycling targets for local authorities. It is likely that in order to meet these targets many more local authorities will decide to introduce kerbside separation of household waste. In light of that, we will decide later whether or not to make separation at source mandatory.

Sue Doughty

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will accept the recommendation of the Fifth report of the Select Committee on Environment, Transport and Regional Affairs on the Government's waste strategy 2000; and if she will make a statement. [4150]

Mr. Meacher

[holding answer 16 July 2001]The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) leads on renewable energy issues. In its Preliminary Consultation on the Renewables Obligation, it proposed that although it will make only a small contribution, energy from the biodegradable fraction of waste, including waste incineration, should count towards the renewable energy target. However, this would not receive support under the Renewables Obligation. In view of the Select Committee's comments, DEFRA is currently reconsidering this and other issues with DTI. DTI will shortly publish the Statutory Consultation document detailing the revised proposals.

Sue Doughty

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the advantages and disadvantages of restricting incineration to those facilities of less than 100,000 tonnes/year capacity; and if she will make a statement. [4151]

Mr. Meacher

[holding answer 16 July 2001]We have made it clear in "Waste Strategy 2000" that incinerators, where they are built, should be appropriately sized so that they do not crowd out recycling. There has been no assessment of the advantages or disadvantages of restricting the size of incinerators.

Tom Brake

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what measures the Government plans to introduce to facilitate the tracking of dioxins in ash mixtures. [5850]

Mr. Meacher

[holding answer 20 July 2001]In August 2001 the Environment Agency imposed conditions on municipal waste incinerators that required the operators to sample and analyse the ash streams arising from their processes for dioxins. These data will be placed on the relevant public registers. In addition, the Agency is presently trialling a process to track the initial destination of ash generated by municipal waste incinerators. Should the trial be successful, the Agency plans to implement the system throughout England and Wales.

Tom Brake

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what criteria the Environment Agency applies in deciding to apply the legally binding sanctions available to them to locate the final destinations of construction materials containing dioxins from toxic fly ash. [5853]

Mr. Meacher

[holding answer 20 July 2001]Fly ash containing air pollution control residues is generally classified by the Environment Agency as a "special waste". This means that its consignment from an incinerator, and any subsequent transfers as a waste, are subject to the requirements of the Special Waste Regulations 1996 and the duty of care imposed by section 34 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

Under the Special Waste Regulations, each consignment of special waste must be pre-notified to the Environment Agency and must be accompanied by a consignment note which describes its hazardous properties.

The Environment Agency does not have a legal duty to enforce the duty of care under section 34 of the 1990 Act but has a right of access to the records held by those subject to it. The guidance in DOE Circular 19/91 (paragraph 35) envisages that the Agency will pursue breaches of section 34 and seek access to these records where it suspects (a) that waste has not been transferred to an "authorised person" or (b) an actual or potential breach of section 33 of the 1990 Act.

However, there are circumstances in which waste may cease to be a waste (eg it is used in the manufacture of building products) and at this point the Environment Agency's responsibilities for the enforcement of waste management controls also cease.

Judy Mallaber

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what procedures are in place to ensure that the Environment Agency can distinguish between leachates from the Hilts Quarry site, Crich and the Roe's Lane landfill site in conducting investigations into applications by Rolls-Royce; [5805]

London Municipal Waste, Unitary and Waste Disposal Authorities by disposal method 1996–97 to 1999–2000
Percentage
Name Type1.4 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000
Recycled
London Borough of Bexley UA 12 19 23 19

  1. (2) on what evidence the Environment Agency determined the high reading of Cobalt 60 in samples of surface water in Crich, Derbyshire, in the third quarter of 1999 was a false reading; [5809]
  2. (3) what action will be taken to ensure the safety of the existing site in the event of a decision by the Environment Agency to end the disposal of Rolls-Royce waste at Hilts Quarry, Crich; [5803]
  3. (4) what studies are being (a) undertaken and (b) commissioned by the Environment Agency in making a determination of the applications submitted by Rolls-Royce Marine Power Operations Ltd. in so far as they relate to disposal of waste at Hilts Quarry, Crich; [5806]
  4. (5) what information is available to the Environment Agency on the nature of the materials (a) stored at Hilts Quarry, Crich, after disposal since the 1960s from Rolls-Royce Marine Power Operations Ltd., Derby and (b) deposited at Hilts Quarry in weekly disposals from RRMPOL; [5804]
  5. (6) what procedures have been put in place to ensure that sample results from Crich, Derbyshire, given to Rolls-Royce are made available to the Environment Agency and that abnormal results are investigated; [5807]
  6. (7) what criteria the Environment Agency is applying in determining whether the disposal of Rolls-Royce waste at Hilts Quarry, Crich, Derbyshire, should continue. [5808]
Mr. Meacher

[holding answer 20 July 2001]I replied to my hon. Friend by letter on 14 August 2001, and placed a copy of my letter in the Library.

Jeremy Corbyn

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what her estimate is, for each of the past five years, for each London borough, of the proportion of(a) household and (b) industrial waste that is (i) recycled, (ii) disposed of by incineration and (iii) disposed of by landfill. [6753]

Mr. Meacher

The tables set out the available information for the percentage of municipal waste recycled, incinerated and landfilled for each of the four years1996–97,1997–98,1998–99 and 1999–2000 taken from the Department's Municipal Waste Management survey. The data are available for municipal waste but not for household waste separately. Household waste accounts for around 80 per cent. of municipal waste for London as a whole with the remainder coming from commercial and other sources. The available breakdown is by waste disposal areas. Data for 1995–96 are not available at local authority level.

The only readily available information on the management of other industrial and commercial waste in London is for 1998–99 and is given as follows. This was collected by the Environment Agency's National Waste Production survey; further details are published in "Strategic Waste Management Assessment 2000: London".

London Municipal Waste, Unitary and Waste Disposal Authorities by disposal method 1996–97 to 1999–2000
Percentage
Name Type1.4 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000
Corporation of London UA 2— 0 0 1
London Borough of Tower Hamlets UA 3— 2 3 3
Westminster City Council UA 4 2 5 4
London Borough of Greenwich UA 2 3 5 6
London Borough of Lewisham UA 3 3 4 3
London Borough of Southwark UA 2 3 3 4
London Borough of Bromley UA 7 9 7 11
London Borough of Croydon UA 9 9 9 9
London Borough of Kingston-upon-Thames UA 8 10 12 16
London Borough of Merton UA 7 5 11 12
London Borough of Sutton UA 13 13 15 20
East London Waste Authority WDA 53 53 3 52
North London Waste Authority WDA 54 56 6 7
West London Waste Authority WDA 3— 7 8 57
Western Riverside Waste Authority WDA 5 5 6 9
Total 5 6 7 8
Disposed of by incineration
London Borough of Bexley UA 27 51 46 47
Corporation of London UA 0 0 0 0
London Borough of Tower Hamlets UA 3— 0 0 0
Westminster City Council UA 58 60 50 54
London Borough of Greenwich UA 84 78 75 54
London Borough of Lewisham UA 95 95 93 91
London Borough of Southwark UA 5 1 1 5
London Borough of Bromley UA 2— 2— 2— 2—
London Borough of Croydon UA 2 1 2 2
London Borough of Kingston-upon-Thames UA 0 0 0 0
London Borough of Merton UA 0 0 0 0
London Borough of Sutton UA 11 11 0 0
East London Waste Authority WDA 513 512 9 59
North London Waste Authority WDA 551 541 41 49
West London Waste Authority WDA 3— 2— 2— 2—
Western Riverside Waste Authority WDA 0 0 0 0
Total 22 20 19 18
Disposed of by landfill
London Borough of Bexley UA 62 30 31 34
Corporation of London UA 100 100 100 99
London Borough of Tower Hamlets UA 3— 98 97 97
Westminster City Council UA 38 39 44 42
London Borough of Greenwich UA 14 19 20 39
London Borough of Lewisham UA 3 2 3 5
London Borough of Southwark UA 93 97 96 93
London Borough of Bromley UA 92 91 92 89
London Borough of Croydon UA 89 90 90 89
London Borough of Kingston-upon-Thames UA 92 90 88 84
London Borough of Merton UA 93 95 89 88
London Borough of Sutton UA 76 76 85 80
East London Waste Authority WDA 584 584 88 589
North London Waste Authority WDA 545 553 53 45
West London Waste Authority WDA 3— 93 92 93
Western Riverside Waste Authority WDA 95 95 94 591
Total 73 74 74 74
1 Unitary Authority
2 Negligible amount
3 Not available
4 Waste Disposal Authority
5 Includes an estimation for missing data

London Industrial and Commercial Waste by disposal method— 1998–99
Percentage
Disposal method
Recycled Incineration Landfill Other disposal/recovery
Industrial 40 4 41 15
Commercial 32 1 57 10
Total 35 2 51 12

Norman Lamb

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on how many occasions in each of the last five years(a) the Environment Agency and (b) local authorities have exercised their powers under section 59 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to remove illegal waste tyre dumps. [4477]

Mr. Meacher

Environment Agency data are available only for 1999 and 2000 and do not separately identify fly-tipping incidents involving waste tyres. The total number of notices which the Agency served under section 59(1) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 in each of these years is estimated to be 158 (1999) and 117 (2000). Information on the use by local authorities of their powers under section 59 of the 1990 Act is not held centrally.

Norman Lamb

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps the Government intend to take to reduce fly-tipping of tyres. [4476]

Mr. Meacher

The Government have put in place strict controls to ensure that all waste, including waste tyres, is disposed of safely and the penalties for contravention of these controls are severe. The action being taken by the Government on fly-tipping, and other forms of illegal waste disposal, was set out most recently in the Government's response to the Environment. Transport and Regional Affairs Committee's Report on the Environment Agency (Cm 4832—paragraphs 55–60). The Environment Agency is also developing a long-term programme to encourage the proper disposal of waste tyres.