HC Deb 12 July 1995 vol 263 cc585-6W
Mr. William O'Brien

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will give up-to-date details on the response he has received to each of the six packaging schemes listed in his consultation paper on packaging and packaging waste; [33692]

(2) how many (a) written and (b) oral representations his Department has received to the consultation paper on the shared producers responsibility scheme (i) from industry and (ii) from trade associations and companies; [33689]

(3) how many (a) written and (b) oral representations his Department has received on the suggested V-WRAG scheme on shared producers responsibility for packaging waste scheme (i) in favour of the V-WRAG scheme and (ii) against the scheme; [33690]

(4) if he will consider including the V-WRAG suggested scheme as an addition in his consultation paper, "Shared Producers Responsibility for Packaging Waste Scheme"; and if he will make a statement. [33691]

Mr. Clappison

[holding answer 11 July 1995]: The Department has received approximately 200 letters from businesses and trade associations, largely in the food and drink and packaging manufacturing sectors, in support of a document entitled "Shared Producer Responsibility for Packaging Waste" which was submitted to Government by the VALPAK—Working Representative Advisory Group (V—WRAG) on 13 June. There have also been a number of oral expressions of support.

The previous Minister for the Environment and Countryside wrote to the chairman of V-WRAG explaining that, in their present form, these proposals fall well short of meeting the criteria for an effective legal obligation to support the recovery and recycling of packaging waste. These criteria were published by the Government on 2 February, Official Report, column 763–64. I have placed copies of the correspondence in the library.

The Government published their consultation paper on "Producer Responsibility for Packaging Waste" on 25 May, copies of which are in the library. Consultation closes on 18 August. The paper sets out six options for legislation on the recovery and recycling of packaging waste, all of which have been worked up by representatives of businesses in the packaging industry or who manufacture or supply packaged goods. At this stage, very few responses on the relative merits of the various options have been received.