HC Deb 25 April 1990 vol 171 cc252-3W
42. Mr. Watts

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what percentage of hazardous waste disposed of in Britain is imported from abroad.

Mr. Trippier

The latest figures available for England and Wales indicate that imports are about 2 per cent. of total disposals.

44. Mr. Patrick Thompson

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what progress has been made on implementing the agreement reached at the last North sea conference on the disposal of polychlorinated biphenyls.

Mr. Heathcoat-Amory

Ministers of North sea states meeting in March at the third North sea conference held in The Hague agreed to take measures to phase out and destroy all remaining identifiable uses of polychlorinated biphenyls by 1999 at the latest, making use of storage only as an interim option and with each country pledging to develop destruction facilities to allow each to deal with its own waste.

Provisional estimates indicate that the United Kingdom already possesses sufficient destruction capacity to deal with its PCB waste. This and other aspects of the North sea conference declaration will be the subject of a guidance note on implementation, which I propose to publish within the next two months.

56. Mr. Day

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is his policy on the import of hazardous waste from abroad.

Mr. Trippier

The Government are not opposed to imports of hazardous waste to specialised facilities which are available here but not in the country of origin provided that the imports are properly notified and in accordance with all the relevant regulations. The Government are advocating, internationally, that developed countries should aim to be self-sufficient in waste disposal facilities so that transfrontier movements are reduced to a minimum.

104. Mr. Gill

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he will announce his action plan for implementing the agreements reached at the last North sea conference.

Mr. Heathcoat-Amory

I hope to publish a full report, detailing how we intend to implement all of the measures agreed at the third North sea conference, within the next two months.