§ Gregory BarkerTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what research is being undertaken into the health effects of energy-from-waste incinerators. [138820]
§ Mr. MorleyThe Government has commissioned a review of the environmental and health effects of waste management options including incineration. This appraisal is currently being peer reviewed by the Royal Society and is due to be published around the time of the Pre-Budget report 2003.
§ Gregory BarkerTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the distribution of proposed waste incineration. [138823]
§ Mr. MorleyAt present just over 12 per cent. of England's municipal waste is recycled or composted, about 9 per cent. of municipal waste is incinerated and the rest is landfilled.
There are 16 Municipal Solid Waste Incinerators in the whole of the UK (14 in England and Wales, two in Scotland) with a total capacity of about 2.7 million tonnes of municipal solid waste per year. There are many hundreds of other incinerators for sewage sludge, hazardous waste, clinical waste, production waste from factories etc.
914WThe Government has no plans for constructing any particular number of incinerators: the choice of waste treatment facilities is a matter for local authorities to take into consideration with the communities they serve; along with other factors such as their recycling targets and national waste policy.