Mr. O'NeillTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what assessment his Department has made of the effect of waste-to-energy schemes in reducing demand for landfill waste disposal sites; what assessment his Department has made of the impact on demand for landfill sites of the closure of existing waste incineration plants after 1996; and what plans he has to review existing requirements to dispose of inert ash residues from waste-to-energy plants via landfill.
§ Mr. Maclean[holding answer 11 May 1993]: The proportion of waste destined for landfill is expected to fall as a result of the Government's waste minimisation and recycling policies and the development of new waste-to-energy schemes. Some municipal waste incinerators will have to close within the next few years because it will not be cost effective for them to be upgraded in order to achieve the requirements of the directive 89/429/EEC. Others are being upgraded and new plants are being constructed. The directive itself is not thought likely to have a significant effect on the proportion of waste disposed of by incineration. At present, my Department has no plans to review the use of landfill as a disposal option for inert incinerator ash—there is no alternative disposal option.