HC Deb 17 November 1976 vol 919 cc567-8W
Mr. Andrew F. Bennett

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what steps his Department has taken since September 1974 and the publication of "War on Waste", Command Paper No. 5727, to implement that report;

(2) what measures he has taken as a result of recommendations and studies by the Waste Management Advisory Council and the Advisory Group on Waste Paper Recycling.

Mr. Marks

The proposals in the Green Paper are being developed by the Waste Management Advisory Council, which was set up at the end of 1974 for this purpose, and by the Director of the National Anti-Waste Programme, who was appointed at the end of 1975. Measures taken by my Department as a result of studies and recommendations by the Council and by the Advisory Group on the Recycling of Waste Paper have included the commitment of £1.4 million towards the cost of two pilot plants for the mechanical sorting of household waste; further work on the use of waste as fuel; and advice to local authorities about the collection of waste paper. Other measures have been taken by the Department of Industry.

Mr. Andrew F. Bennett

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) how much money his Department spent on publicising the need to reclaim waste and methods of reclaiming waste during the last five years;

(2) what plans he has to increase publicity and make information available on the need to reclaim waste and the methods available to do it.

Mr. Marks

Publicity is only one of the ways by which we can hope to increase the amount of waste that is reclaimed. There was no expenditure by my Department until the beginning of 1975; since then it has totalled just over £10,000. Now that we have progressed further in identifying markets for the different types of waste the Government are planning a much larger programme. The cost will, however, be met from Department of Industry funds.

Mr. Andrew F. Bennett

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment how much money the Government have spent during the last five and the last two years, respectively, on research into waste reclamation.

Mr. Marks

My Department has spent approximately £590,000 since the beginning of 1973–74. Earlier expenditure fell elsewhere. Of the total, about £530,000 has been spent since the beginning of 1974–75. Most of the expenditure has been on the mechanical sorting of household waste.