§ Mr. Simon HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Brecon and Radnor (Mr. Evans) on 12 January,Official Report, columns 200–1, (1) which hazardous waste shipments to developing countries have been prohibited on the grounds that they are not moving towards environmentally sound recovery operations; who is responsible for deciding which shipments to prohibit; and what information is taken into account in making the decision to prohibit a shipment;
(2) what steps he has taken to ensure that lead battery recycling operations in Brazil are environmentally sound;
(3) what criteria he uses to decide whether lead battery recycling operations are environmentally sound in (a) the United Kingdom and (b) non-OECD countries;
(4) when he was informed to which Brazilian battery recycling facility the consignment of battery wastes which were prevented from loading on the container ship Brazil Express, at Tilbury docks on 10 February, was destined; whether he considers this facility to be environmentally sound; if he will prohibit this consignment from shipment to a facility whose environmental standards he has not investigated; and what steps he will take to ensure that this consignment moves towards environmentally sound recovery.
§ Mr. AtkinsThere are no powers under the Transfrontier Shipment of Hazardous Waste Regulations 1988 to prohibit shipments of non-ferrous metals destined for recovery operations. The operation of the 1988 regulations is normally a matter for the waste regulation authorities. However, in the event that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State received a notification under regulation 6 of the 1988 regulations, relating to the export of hazardous waste outside the European Community, he would consider that notification in accordance with article 4 of Council directive 84/631/EEC, as amended, on the supervision and control within the European Community of the transfrontier shipment of hazardous waste. No such notification has been received in relation to any developing countries.
The supervision of standards in lead battery recycling facilities in Brazil is, in the first instance, a matter for the Brazilian authorities. Environmentally sound management at overseas recovery facilities is the subject of the investigation referred to in my answer of 12 January to my hon. Friend the Member for Brecon and Radnor (Mr. Evans) Official Report, columns 200–1. The question of environmentally sound management of wastes is also 260W being considered by a technical working group under the auspices of the Basel convention. Officials from my Department are participating fully in those discussions.
All facilities recycling waste batteries in Great Britain must be licensed under part I of the Control of Pollution Act 1974.
I have no information about the recycling facility referred to by the hon. Member. I understand that the waste regulation authorities concerned are investigating this case.