§ Dr. TongeTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what percentage of his Department's waste is recycled; and what targets he has set for increasing this figure. [50103]
§ Mr. FatchettAt present we estimate we are recycling about 15 per cent. of our waste paper. A further 25 per cent. is incinerated by Westminster City Council and used for power generation. At our Hanslope Park site we recycle 60 per cent. of our cardboard for packaging material.
We plan, by the year 2000, to increase the percentage of waste that is recycled to 33 per cent. in the London estate and 19 per cent. at Hanslope Park.
By 2005 we are looking to reduce our solid waste to landfill by 40 per cent. This is in line with the White Paper: A Strategy for Sustainable Waste Management.
§ Dr. TongeTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what measures he has introduced to discourage car use by his Department's employees. [50088]
§ Mr. FatchettWe operate the following measures to discourage car use:
- (i) An assisted travel scheme coach service for employees at our out of town site at Hanslope Park, near Milton Keynes.
- (ii) We have increased the number of cycle spaces at our Whitehall Main Building by 31 per cent.
- (iii) As part of our Green Transport Plan, we expect to decrease the number of car parking spaces at our Whitehall Main Building. This is in line with the DETR initiative to reduce staff parking at Government Buildings in London.
§ Dr. TongeTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the current energy consumption of his Department; what targets have been set to reduce this level; and what plans he has to include energy efficiency performance figures in his Department's annual report. [50093]
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§ Mr. FatchettOur current energy consumption is:
1997–98 figures kWh Whitehall district heating system 6,084,631 Electricity 17,881,626 Gas 6,717,265 Fuel oil 4,524,791 We are striving to reduce our energy consumption in line with the DETR recommendations of a 20 per cent. improvement over 1990 levels by 31 March 2000.
We plan to include our energy efficiency performance figures in our Department's Annual Report once our accommodation strategy has been realised in 2001. Part of the aim of the strategy is to reduce our energy consumption significantly by rationalising our estate.
§ Dr. TongeTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to raise awareness of environmental issues within his Department; and what training will be made available. [50102]
§ Mr. FatchettWe operate a Monitoring and Targeting (M & T) system which reports on energy and water use throughout the estate and highlights areas of waste.
Information from the M&T system was used as the basis for a "Powerdown" poster campaign.
We encourage our Energy and Environment Officers to undertake relevant training.
§ Dr. TongeTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what environmental activities his Green Minister has undertaken since being appointed. [50101]
§ Mr. FatchettThe UK has much to contribute to international action on the environment. This is a top priority for the entire Ministerial team in the FCO, working closely with their DETR counterparts. Protection of the environment was, for example, a key theme of the UK's Presidency of the European Union.
I am the FCO's Green Minister. I have responsibility among FCO Ministers to ensure that we make the most of all opportunities to promote the UK's international environmental objectives, including in multilateral and bilateral meetings, and in the activities of UK diplomatic missions overseas. For example, the environment was a key theme of the ASEM 2 Summit in April. As Green Minister, I am also responsible for ensuring that the administration of the FCO itself takes full account of environmental considerations. I have recently committed the FCO to greater use of environmentally friendly means of transport. The FCO is now exploring the use of Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) vehicles.