§ Mr. Bill O'BrienTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what steps he is taking to ensure that targets set under the Producer Responsibility Obligation (Packaging Waste) Regulations will be achieved; and if he will make a statement. [113422]
§ Mr. MeacherThe Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 1997 set out measures which are designed to achieve the UK's mandatory EC Directive recovery and recycling targets which the EC Directive on Packaging and Packaging Waste requires the UK to meet in 2001. A number of amendments have been made to the Regulations which are designed to contribute further to our achievement of the targets, in particular higher interim recovery and recycling targets for 1999 and 2000 which came into force on 1 January 2000.
I will continue to monitor progress carefully as the basis for an early decision on whether the targets for 2001 are set at the right level to achieve the Directive targets. In particular, it will be important to take account of information due shortly on the numbers of smaller businesses registering for the first time this year as a result of changes in the turnover threshold.