§ Sue DoughtyTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many refrigeration unit storage and treatment facilities have been found to be in breach of regulations relating to the implementation of European Council Regulation No. 2037/2000 since it came into force; and what action was taken in each case. [187017]
§ Mr. MorleyThe Environment Agency has concluded three successful prosecutions against operators of fridge storage facilities. These have resulted in penalties of £35,000, £15,000 and a four-month custodial sentence respectively, reflecting the seriousness with which the Government and the Courts regard these offences. In addition a number of warning letters and enforcement notices have been served, requiring fridge treatment plant operators to comply with licence conditions.
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§ Sue DoughtyTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many(a) storage and (b) treatment facilities for refrigeration units there are in England and Wales; and how many of these have been inspected by the Environment Agency since European Council Regulation No. 2037/2000 came into force. [187018]
§ Mr. Morley78 sites are licensed to store fridges, although all may not be operational. 19 sites are licensed for the treatment of fridges.
The sites have been inspected in accordance with the Environment Agency's Operator and Pollution Risk Appraisal (OPRA) system and the Waste Management Facility Site Inspection Methodology. Under OPRA, these sites would initially have been inspected at monthly intervals. The assessments of operators' performance consider both the type and severity of noncompliance and the environmental significance of that breach or non-compliance.
§ Sue DoughtyTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the total cost to(a) central Government and (b) local authorities of meeting the requirements of European Council Regulation No.2037/2000 as they relate to refrigeration units has been since 1 January 2002. [187019]
§ Mr. MorleyThe Government were responsible for securing provision for additional costs that local government faced as a result of the ozone depleting substance Regulation 2037/00.
A special grant of £40 million was provided for additional costs that local authorities in England incurred as a result of implementing the Regulation for the period 2002–03.
£6 million was provided in the 2002–03 local government finance settlement to cover the period 1 January to 31 March 2002.
The Spending Review of 2002 included provision within the Environmental, Protective and Cultural Services block for the continuing costs for 2003–04 onwards, which was incorporated into the special/ hazardous wastes allocation.
Estimates for future expenditure have also been incorporated into the Spending Review for hazardous wastes. The actual amounts are significantly less than in 2002–03, because of the decrease in cost of the disposal of refrigeration units and the consequences of implementing producer responsibility under the waste electronic and electrical equipment directive (WEEE).
§ Sue DoughtyTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what percentage of the ozone depleting substances covered by European Council Regulation No. 2037/2000 have been recovered from(a) domestic refrigeration and (b) commercial refrigeration units since the implementation of the regulation, broken down by (i) refrigerant fluid and (ii) foaming agent. [187020]
§ Mr. MorleyThe information is not available in the form requested as the data on the recovery of ozone 1577W depleting substances (ODS) do not identify the equipment from which they were recovered. In addition, it is not possible to calculate the percentage of ODS recovered from the refrigerant fluids. This is because, it is not known how much refrigerant fluid is in the unit on arrival at the licensed waste management site, as many units are damaged in use or transit, and fluid will have escaped before the units are received for disposal.
The following information is given.
The sites recovering ODS from foam, principally in relation to domestic units, range from a recovery rate of 40 per cent. to 80 per cent. of the theoretical maximum. The Environment Agency is currently investigating the reasons for this large variation.The total amount of ODS including CFCs recovered from all equipment was: 387 tonnes in 2002 and;494 tonnes in 2003.
§ Sue DoughtyTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what procedures are in place to ensure that(a) handling, (b) removal and (c) storage of refrigeration units results in minimal leakage of ozone depleting substances; and what measures exist to ensure an accurate monitoring of leakage. [187021]
§ Mr. MorleySites for the storage of fridges are regulated under the Waste Management Licensing Regulations 1994. A site licence is required and the standard permit requires storage of fridges to comply with a number of conditions, many of which are specifically aimed at reducing damage to refrigeration units while they are in storage. Compliance with these conditions is assessed during routine inspections.
Since most storage takes place outside, monitoring of leakage using instrumentation does not take place. However, the Environment Agency visually inspects the conditions under which fridges are stored and compliance with storage conditions minimises the risk of leakage from the coolant circuit.
Monitoring equipment is employed at the treatment facilities and emissions are analysed at the destruction facilities for recovered ozone depleting substances.