§ Mr. CousinsTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the(a) location and (b) capacity is of each site presently licensed for (i) hazardous and (ii) contaminated waste, broken down by region; which sites will continue to be licensed for such waste after the implementation of the EU Landfill Directive; and which sites (A) are and (B) will be licensed to take contaminated soil. [176384]
§ Mr. MorleyThe location of each site presently licensed for hazardous waste is set out in a table which I have placed in the library (table 1). These are the sites for which operators submitted a conditioning plan to the Environment Agency on 16 July 2002, outlining their proposals for meeting the requirements of the Landfill (England and Wales) Regulations 2002. From 16 July 2004, when the co-disposal of hazardous and non-hazardous waste ends, the majority of these sites will revert to a non-hazardous classification.
Sites whose operators have applied for permits for their respective sites to receive hazardous waste after the implementation of the EU Landfill Directive are set out in two further tables which I have placed in the Library (tables 2 and 3).
The 22 applications listed in table 2 are for permits to become merchant or in-house landfills for hazardous waste. The identity of two of the in-house landfills in table 2 cannot be revealed for reasons of national security.
1189WThe 35 applications listed in table 3 are for permits for sites to contain single cells for the disposal of stable, non-reactive hazardous wastes.
Data on capacity of individual hazardous waste sites is not held centrally. Most types of waste are 'contaminated'. Approximately 1,000 landfills are licensed and permitted to take waste for disposal in England and Wales.
The Environment Agency has no centrally stored information on which sites are presently licensed to take contaminated soil.
One merchant landfill site has been granted a permit to take contaminated soil after the implementation of the EU Landfill Directive: at Purton Brickworks (table 2, number 1). The operators of two merchant landfill sites have applications still under consideration for permits to take contaminated soils after the implementation of the EU Landfill Directive: at Eardswick Hall (table 2, number 6); and at Whitemoss (table 2, number 7).
§ Mr. George OsborneTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans the Environment Agency has to encourage the cement and lime industry to become major operators of hazardous waste incinerators; and whether the Agency has considered plans to locate an incinerator at Lostock Gralam in Cheshire. [176824]
§ Mr. MorleyThe Environment Agency takes no part in the commercial decisions of industry to undertake specific activities and is not aware of any applications from the cement and lime industry to operate hazardous waste incinerators. Several cement and lime operators are permitted to incinerate hazardous wastes as substitutes for conventional fuels used in the cement-making process, such as coal and petroleum coke. This is only permitted where the operator can demonstrate to the Agency's satisfaction that no net detriment to the environment results in comparison with the use of conventional fuels alone.
The Agency has not received an application for an incinerator at Lostock Gralam in Cheshire.
§ Norman BakerTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what contingency plans she has put in place to deal with hazardous waste following the forthcoming ban on co-disposal, with particular reference to warehousing and other storage facilities. [177496]
§ Mr. MorleyThe Government and the Environment Agency are monitoring closely waste industry plans for the provision of treatment and disposal capacity, and the response of waste producers. For example, a recent survey of the chemical industry, as reported to the Hazardous Waste Forum, shows that waste producers in that sector do not envisage difficulty in meeting the Landfill Directive requirements. Waste producers should ensure that they are meeting in full the requirements of their duty of care and avoid the need for warehousing or storage of waste over and above that which normally occurs.
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