§ Mr. George HowarthTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what is her latest estimate of the scale of demand in England and Wales over the next 10 years for new facilities for disposing of medical waste, broken down(a) by region, (b) by volume, (c) by the proposed means of disposal and (d) by the type of operator envisaged;
(2) if she will give details of current proposals for further units for incineration of medical waste, including the location of the units and the firms or organisations which will operate them.
§ Dr. MawhinneyAround 125,000 tonnes of waste produced by the national health service in England each year is disposed of as clinical waste. Health authorities are individually responsible for making arrangements for disposing of their waste. Each health authority has confirmed that its waste is disposed of in accordance with the interim standards of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, and that by 1995 it will meet the full requirements of the Act. Incineration is expected to be the normal means of disposal, and will be carried out by health authorities themselves, or public or private contractors depending on local circumstances.
The Department has issued strategic guidance, copies of which will be placed in the Library, to assist health authorities to formulate and implement environmental policies. Information relating to Wales is a matter for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales.