§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations he has received from(a) the European Commission and (b) elsewhere on the delay in implementing the European directive on the transfrontier shipment of hazardous waste.
§ Mr. MoynihanWe have received a number of representations about the difficulties and delay in implementing the EC directive on transfrontier shipment of hazardous waste, from the European Commission, waste disposal authorities and others.
§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he proposes to introduce enabling legislation or regulations to implement the European directive on the transfrontier shipment of hazardous waste.
§ Mr. MoynihanWe intend to lay regulations to implement these directives before the summer recess.
§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many prosecutions for misleading, wrong or incorrect descriptions of special waste on the consignment notes required by the 1980 regulations have been brought in each year since 1981; and how many for failure to provide consignment notes.
§ Mr. MoynihanResponsibility for administering the special waste regulations rests with waste disposal authorities. Data provided to my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary, which may be incomplete, give the following information on prosecutions for offences under section 17 of the Control of Pollution Act 1974:
1985 1986 3 5
§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many major waste disposal sites have laboratory facilities for analysis of waste coming in.
§ Mr. MoynihanDetails of laboratory facilities are not held centrally. Few landfill sites have laboratory facilities, but Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution knows of testing facilities at some: for example; the L Field site in Bedfordshire; the Witton Flash site in Cheshire; the Colliers site at Rixton in Cheshire; the Himley Wood site470W in Staffordshire; the WeIlford site in Northamptonshire; and the Pitsea site in Essex. The presence of laboratory facilities does not necessarily imply that all loads are tested on arrival. All major treatment and incineration facilities have laboratories on site.
§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many European countries have implemented the European directive on the trans-frontier shipment of hazardous waste.
§ Mr. MoynihanWe understand that Belgium and Denmark have done so.
§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what proportion of waste coming into the United Kingdom is defined as hazardous or special(a) under British regulations, (b) under regulations of the country of origin and (c) under the EEC directive.
§ Mr. MoynihanIt is estimated that some 28 per cent. of imported wastes are defined as special waste under our regulations. The proportion defined as hazardous or special in the country of origin or under the EC transfrontier directives cannot be estimated until the directives are implemented by other member states.
§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment at what time after the arrival of the vessel the importer of special waste is required to notify the local authority of the port of arrival of the nature of the consignment.
§ Mr. MoynihanUnder the Control of Pollution (Special Waste) Regulations 1980, notification is linked to the removal of waste from the place where it is produced or held. Notification should take place not less than three days before the waste is moved. For imports of special waste, this means not less than three days before the waste is due to leave the port.
Under regulations to be laid to implement the directive on transfrontier shipment of hazardous waste, the Waste Disposal Authority will receive notification before the arrival of the shipment.
§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will give the figures for the import of(a) special waste and (b) general waste through Humberside in each year from 1980; and how much of it was deposited in Humberside.
§ Mr. MoynihanFigures for the importation of special wastes via the port of Hull/Immingham for the years 1981 to 1986 are as follows:
Tonnes 1981 2,886 1982 3,088 1983 2,444 1984 12,000 1985 881 1986 12,504 1 Approximately. There is no requirement for other controlled waste to be: pre-notified and therefore figures for the importation of these wastes through Humberside are not available.
Humberside county council is not aware of any imported wastes being deposited within the county.
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§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what definition of hazardous waste has been used in other countries implementing the European directive on transfrontier shipment of hazardous waste; what definition he intends to use in the United Kingdom; and what representations he has made to the Commission for a common definition.
§ Mr. MoynihanThe directives include a general definition of hazardous waste but the detailed interpretation of this definition by other member states will not be known until they have completed their implementation. It is our intention to apply the provisions of the directives to wastes defined as special wastes in the United Kingdom and to imports which are notified as hazardous by other member states. The question of a common definition has been raised with the Commission on a number of occasions in the past three years.
§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations have been made to him from Humberside county council about proposals to import 15,000 tonne consignments of domestic waste for dumping in Humberside.
1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 Control of Pollution Act, S3 13 24 35 48 66 67 65 93 Refuse Disposal (Amenity) Act 385 570 648 605 584 560 436 380 Information is not collected separately on offences relating to special wastes.
§ Mr. HinchliffeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will bring forward legislation to require consignment notes applying to imported toxic waste to be forwarded to the waste disposal authority responsible for its final disposal;
(2) if he will take steps to ensure that consignment note descriptions of imported toxic waste contains accurate descriptions of the quality and content of each consignment;
(3) if he will seek to amend the Control of Pollution (Special Waste) Act 1980, in order to ensure that waste disposal authorities responsible for ports which import toxic waste are required to be notified of the quantity and content of such consignments before they arrive at the ports concerned.
§ Mr. Moynihan[holding answer 16 June 1988]: Regulations to implement the EC directives on transfrontier shipment of hazardous waste will be laid before the House shortly. They will require the use of standard consignment notes to give advance notice to the waste disposal authority responsible for the waste disposal of an intended shipment. The consignment notes will be required to contain details of the source, quantity, composition and destination of the wastes.
The regulations, which will replace existing controls on imported waste under the 1980 regulations, will also provide for the waste disposal authority at the port of entry to be notified in advance with full details of the intended shipment.
§ Mr. HinchliffeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations he has received
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§ Mr. MoynihanNone.
§ Mr. HinchliffeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what evidence he has of increasing involvement of organised crime in the disposal of toxic waste.
§ Mr. Moynihan[holding answer 16 June 1988]: I have no evidence of the involvement of organised crime in the disposal of special waste in the United Kingdom.
§ Mr. HinchliffeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the number of successful prosecutions for the illicit disposal of toxic waste for each year since 1979.
§ Mr. Moynihan[holding answer 16 June 1988]: The unlicensed disposal of any controlled waste is an offence under the Control of Pollution Act 1974, section 3, and unauthorised dumping of any article is an offence under the Refuse Disposal (Amenity) Act 1978. Information on convictions for these two offences, which may be incomplete, as reported to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Home Department is as follows:
regarding the loss of significant quantities from consignments of imported toxic waste between their arrival in the United Kingdom and final disposal.
§ Mr. Moynihan[holding answer 16 June 1988]: I have had no such representations.
§ Mr. HinchliffeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will bring forward legislation to ensure that, before completing consignment notes, importers of toxic waste are required to carry out a chemical analysis of each consignment to ensure that the information concerning its quantity and content supplied by either the waste producer or waste broker is accurate.
§ Mr. Moynihan[holding answer 16 June 1988]: The Special Waste Regulations 1980 provide that the duties of a producer of special waste shall apply to the person who imports special waste. These duties include the completion of the consignment note on which details of the waste are required. The importer must declare that this description of quantities and chemical composition is correct. He is already therefore obliged to satisfy himself that the consignment note is complete and accurate. Failure to do so will render him liable to prosecution. There is no need for further legislation on this point.
§ Mr. HinchliffeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will take steps to ensure that waste disposal authorities do not dispose of toxic waste until they are in receipt of the relevant consignment notes and are satisfied that they are fully aware of the quantity and contents of each consignment.
§ Mr. Moynihan[holding answer 16 June 1988]: The disposal of special waste is primarily a private sector activity, licensed and monitored by waste disposal 473W authorities. The transfrontier shipment of waste regulations, to be implemented in the autumn, will prohibit disposal of imported special waste unless the waste is accompanied by a consignment note which records that the waste disposal authority has received full details of the quantity and contents of the consignment and is satisfied that the disposal will be in accordance with the licence conditions. A consultation paper will be issued later in the year to amend the special waste regulations which will include proposals to introduce similar requirements for movements of special waste within Great Britain.
§ Mr. HinchliffeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many incidents of imported toxic waste being disposed of in the United Kingdom before the waste disposal authority were in receipt of the relevant consignment notes were recorded in the past year.
§ Mr. Moynihan[holding answer 16 June 1988]: This information is not held centrally.