Recycling (Hansard, 10 December 2001)

§ Mr. Peter Ainsworth
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will set out the penalty arrangements which will apply in the event of local authorities failing to meet the Government's targets for recycling. [18541]

§ Margaret Beckett
[holding answer 27 November 2001]: The statutory performance standards for household waste recycling and composting are demanding but realistic targets that each local authority should be able to achieve, and ideally exceed, without need for penalties. Nevertheless, the performance standards have been established under the best value regime and this provides extensive powers for direction and, if necessary, intervention in the event of targets not being reached.
672W
I have made it very clear to all local authorities that the Government expect them to achieve their targets and will use the power available, if necessary, to ensure that they are met.

§ Dr. Kumar
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what percentage of UK municipal waste was recycled in the last 12 months. [19051]

§ Mr. Meacher
Annual recycling data for UK municipal waste are not available. Information on the percentage of municipal waste that was recycled or composted in England and Wales is obtained from the Department's annual Municipal Waste Management Survey. The latest available data from 1999–2000 show a recycling rate of 11 per cent.

§ Dr. Kumar
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what targets the Government have set for domestic waste recycling. [19052]

§ Mr. Meacher
"Waste Strategy 2000" announced challenging targets to increase the amount of municipal waste recycled and composted in England and Wales. These targets are:

To recycle or compost at least 25 per cent of household waste by 2005

To recycle or compost at least 30 per cent. of household waste by 2010

To recycle or compost at least 33 per cent. of household waste by 2015.
To ensure that local authorities contribute to achieving these targets, the Government have set Statutory Performance Standards for recycling and composting for individual authorities. These can be found in the Government's "Guidance on Municipal Waste Management Strategies", published in March 2001. Copies are available in the House of Commons Library and from the DEFRA website: http://www.defra.gov.uk/ environment/waste/management/guidance/mwms/ index.htm