§ Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domerasked Her Majesty's Government:
What is their policy on the use and classification of material that is dredged from watercourses to maintain channel capacity; and [HL5555]
What is the status of material that is dredged from watercourses; and whether it can have more than one status; and [HL5556]
Whether they propose to change their policy concerning material that is dredged from watercourses; if so, whether any such change has been costed; and whether it represents the most sustainable option. [HL5557]
§ Lord WhittyThe regulatory and technical provisions of the 1999 EU Landfill Directive, including those on the treatment and disposal of liquid dredgings, were implemented in England and Wales by the Landfill (England and Wales) Regulations 2002. The ban on landfilling of non-hazardous liquid wastes is unlikely to come fully into force before 2006. My department is currently working with the Environment Agency and others to deliver a policy that meets the needs of all parties, bearing in mind that the UK must comply with EU law.
The Government are committed to reducing the UK's reliance on landfill, which makes little practical use of waste and is a missed opportunity to recover value from waste. The Government believe that landfilling of waste sites at the bottom of the waste hierarchy and in their waste strategy have set out a range of policies to promote the reduction, re-use, recycling and recovery of waste in order to divert it from landfill.