§ Mr. SheermanTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what steps he is taking to encourage manufacturers to produce products which make use of recycled materials.
§ Mr. McLoughlinIn recent years, the main encouragement for manufacturers to use recycled materials in their products has come from customer demand, as members of the public take account of this environmental consideration when making their purchasing decisions. Many Government Departments have helped to encourage demand by themselves specifying recycled content in their purchases of stationery and other supplies. The Department of Trade and Industry is funding a number of projects aimed at identifying new end-uses for secondary raw materials, such as glass, plastics and rubber, and is addressing the issue of product standards to seek to remove any unnecessary discrimination against the use of recycled material.