Recycling (Hansard, 26 November 1992)

§ Mr. Dafis
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will establish a United Kingdom-wide target for the recycling of 25 per cent. of all household waste by the year 2000.

§ Mr. Maclean
The Government have already set a target of recycling half of the country's recyclable household waste by the end of the century, in the 1990 White Paper on the environment, "This Common Inheritance" (Cm 1200). In the White Paper, it was estimated that this equates to about 25 per cent. of total household waste.

§ Mr. Bennett
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the Government's latest estimate of the amount of domestic waste being recycled; and if he will list the six best and the six worst local authorities in this respect.
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§ Mr. Maclean
The Government's statistical report "The UK Environment", published in October 1992, estimates that about 5 per cent. of household waste is currently recycled. More detailed information is not currently available but local authorities have been asked to provide it in the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy's new statistical returns on waste collection and disposal. The results of those returns should be available early in 1993.

§ Mr. Dafis
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make it his policy to limit the use of hydrochlorofluorocarbons, methyl bromide and methyl chloride to applications in which effective recycling can be guaranteed.

§ Mr. Maclean
Negotiations are currently under way into the renegotiation of the Montreal protocol on substances that deplete the ozone layer, where controls on HCFCs and methyl bromide will be discussed. I understand that all uses of methyl chloride are as feedstock, where the substance is destroyed.

§ 135. Mr. McMaster
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what steps he is taking to encourage the newspaper and textile industries to promote and participate in recyling schemes; and if he will make a statement.

§ Mr. Maclean
The newspaper and textiles industries already promote and participate in recyling schemes throughout the country. In particular, the Newspaper Publishers Association agreed in 1991, after discussions with the Government, to aim to increase the proportion of waste paper used in newsprint consumed in the United Kingdom to at least 40 per cent. by the end of the decade. I am also aware that the textile reclamation industry has been actively seeking to increase recycling rates in association with local authorities.
The measures being taken by the Government to set the right economic and legislative framework for recycling, set out in "This Common Inheritance: the Second Year Report" (Cm 2068), will encourage further activity by those industries.