§ Mr. SheermanTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the cost to local authorities of meeting the Government's recycling targets. [159011]
1631W
§ Mr. MorleyWaste Strategy 2000 sets out the Government's targets on recycling and composting. Appendix C to Annex C provides estimates of the cost of various municipal waste management options from 2000 to 2020. The present value of the additional costs to local authorities of reaching the recycling and composting targets, over and above a 'base case' which assumed current levels (in absolute terms) of recycling, composting and energy recovery, with all other waste going to landfill, were estimated at between £3.4 billion and £7.7 billion over the 20 year period.