§ Lord Pearson of Rannochasked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the answers by Lord Whitty on 19 April on the European Union waste incineration directive (H.L. Deb., cols. 700–01), whether they will give details of:
- (a) their pursuit in Brussels of an exemption for small incinerators; whether a vote has been taken on this exemption; and, if so, what was the result; and
- (b) the exemptions given to Portugal. [HL2333]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (Lord Whitty)The Council of Ministers is currently considering the European Parliament's amendments to the waste incineration directive Common Position, including those affecting the scope, at official level. Council's rules of procedure do not allow me to comment on the detail of those discussions. No decisions have been taken by the Council in relation to the European Parliament's amendments. We will keep the House in formed in the usual way.
There are no exemptions or other provisions in the directive which relate specifically to Portugal or to any other member state. The directive would, as currently drafted, apply equally to all 15 member states. As I explained in my 19 April answer (H.L. Deb., col. 700), there are exemptions for plants treating only vegetable waste from the food processing industry and for those treating only cork waste. The Council concluded that it is appropriate to consider these wastes as biomass, and therefore to include them in the list of exclusions in order to avoid discouraging use of biomass for energy purposes.