§ Mr. Corrieasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what assistance he is providing to encourage regional authorities to convert refuse into useful energy.
§ Mr. YoungerThe Government's policy is to promote the re-use of waste materials, whether as fuel or otherwise, to the greatest practicable extent. Waste disposal authorities in Scotland, as in the rest of the United Kingdom, benefit from Government-sponsored research programmes and seminars and in particular from experience gained at the large-scale experimental plants for deriving fuel from wastes at Newcastle and Doncaster which have been developed with substantial Government financial and technical assistance. My Department will shortly be drawing authorities' attention to a general guide on mechanised waste sorting and the production of waste-derived fuel, which was published by the Department of the Environment on 5 June.