§ Mr. DafisTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement outlining his Department's response to the recommendations on clinical waste incineration outlined in the report by the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution.
§ Mr. YeoThe Government have welcomed the report by the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution on the incineration of waste as a comprehensive and clear analysis of the role of incineration as a waste management option. The Government will be making a full response to the commission's report in due course.
My Department is currently reviewing the advice given in waste management paper No. 25 on the arisings, treatment and disposal of clinical waste. A consultation paper was issued in August this year and it is hoped that the revised paper will be published in December.
§ Mr. DafisTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make it his policy to publish information on the chemical composition of incinerated waste in the United Kingdom
§ Mr. YeoWastes incinerated in the United Kingdom include household waste, sewage sludge and organic chemical wastes. This wide range of incinerated wastes means it is not practicable for my right hon. Friend to publish information on their chemical composition.
655WWhere such wastes are special wastes, details of their chemical composition will be available to the public from the register of consignment notes held by the waste regulation authority.
§ Mr. DafisTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make it his policy to adopt the four-stage waste management procedure outlined in the report on the incineration of waste by the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution.
§ Mr. YeoThe Government's waste policies are based upon a hierarchy of waste management options; the reduction of waste, its re-use wherever possible, recycling and energy recovery, and final disposal.
The Government have welcomed the report by the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution on the incineration of waste as a clear and comprehensive analysis of the role of incineration as a waste management option. A full response by the Government to the report will be made in due course.
§ Mr. DafisTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he plans to publish and implement the new waste management licensing laws under part 2 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
§ Mr. YeoI refer the hon. Member to the reply to the hon. Member for Ribble Valley (Mr. Evans) on 29 April 1993 at column470, and the reply to the hon. Member for Gower (Mr. Wardell) on 18 May 1993 at columns 101–2. It remains the Government's intention to bring the waste mangement licensing provisons of part II of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 into force as soon as possible.