HC Deb 25 January 1972 vol 829 cc394-5W
Mr. Laurance Reed

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether the working party on the design, use and disposal of glass containers to be set up by the Glass Manufacturers Federation on his initiative has started work.

Mr. Peter Walker

Yes; and officials of the Department of the Environment, Department of Trade and Industry and Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food are associated with it. The Working Party's terms of reference are

  1. (i) to establish facts on the production and use of glass containers in relation to environmental matters.
  2. (ii) to establish the facts in relation to raw material constituents of glass containers and the use of natural resources.
  3. (iii) to examine all means of designing glass containers in a manner that will facilitate various disposal methods.
  4. (iv) to examine all means of recycling glass cullet through glass furnaces.
  5. (v) to examine all possible alternative uses of waste glass.
  6. (vi) to exchange information with overseas glass industries relevant to items (i) to (v) above.
  7. (vii) to consult with Government Departments through their representatives on the Working Party on all matters relating to glass containers in the context of the report of the Department of the Environment's Working Party on Refuse Disposal (April 1971).