§ 40. Mr. SquireTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps he is taking to encourage industry to reduce the volume of its waste.
§ Mr. ForthThe promotion of waste minimisation is one of the objectives of my Department's environmental programme launched in May last year. This and certain other aspects of the programme are being developed by the Department's business and the environment unit (BEU), which was formed in June. A business guide to waste minimisation, entitled "Cutting Your Losses", was published by the BEU in November. To date there have been over 4,000 inquiries for the guide. A conference on waste minimisation, organised jointly by my Department, the CBI and the Department of the Environment, was also held in November and a series of regional seminars is planned for 1990. The programme of action is being developed further and I am confident that, together with the Department's work to promote the economic recycling of industrial and domestic waste materials, it will make a significant contribution to the reduction of waste in the United Kingdom.