§ Norman BakerTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what total weight of waste she estimates will be(a) recycled, (b) landfilled, (c) incinerated and (d) treated in other ways in the year 2010; and what percentage change on current figures this represents for each of the options. [114254]
584W
§ Mr. MeacherNo estimates have yet been made of what weight of waste will be dealt with in each of the ways listed in 2010. The amount of waste treated under the different waste management options will depend on the actions of householders, waste disposal and collection authorities, business and others, in response to the measures Government have, or intend to, put in place including the targets listed below, to reduce waste growth and increase levels of re-use and recycling.
The Landfill Directive requires reductions in the landfill of bio-degradable municipal waste to 75 per cent. of the total amount of bio-degradable municipal waste produced in 1995 by 2010, equivalent to 11.2 million tonnes (including the four year derogation that the UK has indicated that it intends to use).
By 2010, the Government's target is to recycle or compost 30 per cent. of householdwaste.
The Government's target for commercial and industrial waste is to reduce the amount landfilled in 2005 to 85 per cent. of 1998 levels.
§ Mr. Bill O'BrienTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the cost was for external consultants to assist the Environment Agency with the production and guidance relating to waste management in the years 1998 to 2002; and what proportion this expenditure represented of the Environment Agency's total budget for waste management. [115772]
§ Mr. MeacherThe Agency spend on external consultants for the production of waste regulation related guidance in each of the years 1998–2002 is approximately £1.5 million per annum. This represents 2.0 per cent. of the Agency's total budget for waste management in the 2002–03 year.
Year Total Budget (£m) Proportion (per cent.) 1998–99 65.9 2.3 1999–2000 69.5 2.2 2000–01 72.8 2.0 2001–02 73.9 2.0 2002–03 76.8 2.0
§ Mr. SayeedTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what plans she has to set(a) commercial waste reduction and (b) commercial waste recycling targets for (i) local authorities and (ii) industrial sectors; [115941]
(2) what steps are being taken by her Department to encourage the commercial sector to minimise waste and increase recycling rates; [115943]
(3) what measures her Department is planning to assist local authorities to encourage the commercial sector to (a) minimise commercial waste at source, (b) increase recycling and (c) achieve a reduction in commercial waste levels. [115942]
§ Mr. MeacherThe Government have set a target to reduce, by 2005–06, the amount of commercial and industrial waste going to landfill to 85 per cent. of 1998 levels. Current estimates suggest that we are on course to meet this target.
585WThe Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 1997 (as amended) set targets for the recovery and recycling of packaging waste and provide incentives to minimise the amount of packaging handled. Between 1999 and 2002, the amount of packaging waste sent to landfill fell from 5.7 to 4.4 million tonnes, although the 2002 figure is still provisional at this stage.
The Government have entered into a voluntary agreement with the newspaper industry, which has seen recycled content of newspapers increase to well over the target of 60 per cent. last year. The Government are looking to enter into more agreements of this kind.
The Government fund Envirowise, a business support programme dedicated to making businesses more resource efficient, saving money by minimising waste. Last year alone, Envirowise helped UK businesses to achieve annual cost savings of over £175 million, with a reduction of 1.6 million tonnes of solid waste. They also fund the Sustainable Technologies Initiative that provides funding for research and development projects aimed at minimising waste at source.
There are no plans to set local authority targets for commercial waste, since they have no statutory duty to collect commercial waste unless asked to do so by the business.
§ Mr. SayeedTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps her Department is planning to take to enable local authorities to refuse to dispose of waste that has been imported from other authorities to be landfilled within their areas of responsibility; and if she will make a statement. [115945]
§ Mr. MeacherThere are no plans to enable local authorities to refuse to dispose of waste imported from other authorities. The Government have issued guidance to local authorities on preparing municipal waste management strategies, Guidance on Municipal Waste Management Strategies (DETR March 2001); http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/waste/management/guidance/mwms/index.htm and on preparing waste local plans, Planning and Policy Guidance Note 10 on 'Planning and Waste Management'. Under that guidance, local authorities must take account of the proximity principle—which suggests that waste should generally be disposed of as near to its place of production as possible—in determining the Best Practicable Environmental Option for managing waste.
§ Mr. BattleTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what materials are classified as hazardous waste for the purposes of licensing waste disposal and landfill sites. [116202]
§ Mr. MeacherLandfill sites in England and Wales are regulated by the Landfill (England and Wales) Regulations 2002. In those Regulations, "hazardous waste" is defined as any waste as defined in Article 1(4) of the Hazardous Waste Directive (Directive 91/689/ EEC). For most licensed waste disposal sites other than landfill in the UK the term special waste would be used as defined in Regulation 2 of the Special Waste586W Regulations 1996. The Government are currently reviewing the Special Waste Regulations in order to bring the terms special and hazardous into line.
§ Mr. BattleTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many prosecutions have been brought by the Environment Agency for breaking conditions of management site licences in each year since the Agency was established; and how many were successful. [116203]
§ Mr. MeacherThe Environment Agency's National Enforcement Database (NEDS) was inaugurated on 1 April 1999. The Agency is able to provide national data on enforcement actions from that date, as follows:
Total number per calendar year of prosecutions for contravening the conditions of a waste management licence contrary to section
33 (6) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990
Number 1999 (from 1 April) 17 2000 23 2001 25 2002 28 2003 (to date) 9 All prosecutions were successful with the exception of one acquittal in 2002.
§ Mr. BattleTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the difference between special waste and hazardous waste is for the purpose of licensing waste disposal sites. [116329]
§ Mr. MeacherSpecial waste is the term used in the UK for hazardous waste and is defined in Regulation 2 of the Special Waste Regulations 1996. Hazardous waste is the term defined in the Hazardous Waste Directive (91/ 689/EEC) as a waste featuring on the European hazardous waste list. This list was recently revised and the European Commission brought the new list into force on 1 January 2002. At present, the Special Waste Regulations are still extant in Great Britain and the term "special" waste is still used in many waste management licences. However, some legislation such as the landfill regulations, already refer to "hazardous" waste as defined in the Hazardous Waste Directive. This means that some wastes not defined as special wastes in UK legislation would still have to dealt with in accordance with the requirements for "hazardous" wastes if disposed of to landfill. The Government are also reviewing the Special Waste Regulations and as part of the review the intention is to replace the term "special" with "hazardous", and to transpose the revised hazardous waste list.
§ Mr. BattleTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many modifications to waste management site licences since 1997 have been regularisation of existing practices at waste disposal and landfill sites. [116332]
§ Mr. MeacherThe Environment Agency carry out initiated modifications without a fee from the licensee and they are usually for the purpose of bringing sites into line with new or existing regulatory standards, e.g. Financial Provision, record keeping.
587WOn this basis, figures are available but only back as far as 1999–2000:
- 1999–2000—1,463
- 2000–01—379
- 2001–02—265
- 2002–03—211