§ Mr. AncramTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what action he has taken or proposes to take to encourage the recycling of newspapers and magazines within the United Kingdom; what proportion of Her Majesty's Government's target of the recycling of 25 per cent. of household waste by the year 2000 will be comprised of waste paper; what is the estimated tonnage of that proportion; and what outlets he expects there to be in place in the year 2000 to utilise this waste paper by recycling.
§ Mr. Maclean[holding answer 15 January 1993]: We are setting an economic and legislative framework which encourages an environmentally justified level of recycling. This will affect newspapers and magazines as well as other recyclable materials. We have also agreed with the newspaper publishers and newsprint producers that they will aim to increase the proportion of recycled fibre in newsprint used in Britain to at least 40 per cent. by the year 2000. Subject to parliamentary approval, my right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade proposes to offer a £20 million grant to the papermaking company SCA to invest in a major newsprint mill at Aylesford in Kent, which will produce newsprint made entirely from waste paper.
The Government have not forecast the proportion of waste paper from household sources which will be recycled in the year 2000, nor the outlets which will be available to recycle this paper.