§ Mr. George HowarthTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what representations she has received, and what studies have been conducted, into the environmental impact of pigswill being disposed of to landfill; and what assessment her Department has made of the risk of an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease or swine fever as a result; [76303]
(2) how many representations she has received concerning pig farmers affected by the ban on the use of pigswill. [76311]
§ Mr. MorleyIn March 2001 during the foot and mouth outbreak, the proposal to ban swill feeding was the subject of a full public consultation and Regulatory Impact Assessment. We received over 350 responses to the consultation letter. Subsequently, Minister's have received 51 letters and 33 questions from MPs with regards to the ban on swill feeding. On 20 November 2001 I met with representatives of the Associated Swill Users.
Before the ban on swill-feeding, only a small proportion of catering waste from restaurants and other catering establishments was fed to pigs as swill. The vast majority was already disposed of to landfill or incineration. As the additional waste was going to landfill under the same conditions as before, no specific assessment was made as to the environmental and animal health impacts from the use of landfill to dispose of material that would otherwise have been fed to pigs.