§ Norman LambTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what consultation the Government have had with the tyre industry in order to implement the EU Landfill Directive; and if the requirements of the Directive will be complied with by the dates specified. [4497]
§ Mr. WilsonI have been asked to reply.
The Government expect shortly to issue a consultation document and draft regulations which will set out the Government's views on the implementation of the tyre bans required by the Landfill Directive. The Government maintain regular dialogue with the tyre industry on this issue through the Used Tyre Working Group and we remain confident that sufficient tyre recovery capacity will be developed to enable the disposal of tyres to landfill to cease by the specified dates.
§ Norman LambTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps the Government(a) has taken and (b) plans to take to ensure that additional tyre recovery and recycling facilities become available in the next three years. [4556]
§ Mr. WilsonI have been asked to reply.
The key date in the Landfill Directive for tyres is expected to be 2006, when shredded tyres should be banned from landfill (whole tyres are due to be banned 636W in 2003). The Government will continue to develop the framework necessary and provide support to help enable the tyre industry to achieve the required diversions of tyres away from disposal to landfill.
§ Norman LambTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if the Government will introduce legislation requiring tyre manufacturers to take back tyres at the end of their life. [4498]
§ Mr. Wilson[holding answer 16 July 2001]: I have been asked to reply.
The Government's preferred approach to meeting the requirements of the Landfill Directive for tyres is through a voluntary framework. However, statutory Producer Responsibility is an option, and we will consider later this year whether to issue a consultation document setting out proposals for such arrangements.
§ Norman LambTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what conclusions the Used Tyre Working Group has reached with regard to necessary steps to improve the United Kingdom's scrap tyre recovery performance to a target of 100 per cent.; and if she will make a statement. [4555]
§ Mr. WilsonI have been asked to reply.
The Government have asked the industry side of the Used Tyre Working Group to set out in its forthcoming Annual Report how the transition away from landfill is to be managed. That report is due to be submitted at the end of July and we will consider the way forward in light of this information.
§ Norman LambTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if the Used Tyre Working Group has completed the collection of statistics regarding used tyre disposal for 1999; how many waste tyres were produced in the United Kingdom in that year; by what means they were disposed of; and what other information was collected by the working group in respect of that year. [4531]
§ Mr. WilsonI have been asked to reply.
The Used Tyre Working Group (UTWG) estimated that around 430,000 tonnes (45 million tyres) were disposed of in 1999. The table shows recovery routes, rounded to the nearest percent.
Used tyres Tonnes Percentage Total 427,000 — Recovered 311,000 — Recovery rate — 73 Reuse 61.000 14 Retreading 66,000 15 Recycling 83,000 19 Landfill engineering 31,000 7 Energy recovery 70,000 16 The majority of the balance was landfilled, and some will have been stored or illegally dumped. The UTWG holds regular meetings and gathers information during the course of the year. Much of this information is contained in the UTWG's Annual Reports, the latest of which is held on its website at www.tyredisposal.co.uk.