§ Helen ClarkTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps she takes to ensure that the building of incinerators does not undermine the viability of local recycling schemes. [1810]
§ Mr. MeacherThe Government have made it clear in "Waste Strategy 2000" that incinerators must not crowd out recycling. Local authorities must also deliver the statutory targets set by the Government which will, on average, double the recycling and composting of household waste within three years and nearly treble it within five years.
We have also set guidelines on Private Finance Initiative (PFI) projects to require proposals including incinerators to demonstrate that all opportunities for recycling have been considered first and that there is no barrier to the future development of recycling. We have also established a £40 million Waste and Resources Action Programme to overcome market barriers and hence improve the long-term viability of recycling of waste.
§ Norman BakerTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will list, in order of rank, recycling rates achieved by each OECD country. [3140]
§ Mr. Meacher[holding answer 10 July 2001]The table lists estimated municipal waste recycling (including composting) rates for OECD countries. The rates are based on figures published in the "OECD Environmental Data, Compendium 1999". The OECD publication does not include recycling rates and the figures given have been estimated from the information available. Comparisons between countries should be made with caution. There are doubts about comparability for a number of countries because of missing data, differences1052W in the year, coverage and definitions (e.g. of recycling, municipal waste). Such differences, where they are known, are set out in the notes to the table.
Municipal waste—OECD countries, latest year available Country Year Recycling (including composting) rate percentage Austria1 1996–97 45 Belgium2 1996 43 Holland 1996 41 Switzerland* 1996 40 Finland*3 1994 37 Denmark4 1997 29 Canada*5 1996 29 Germany 1993 29 USA 1996 27 Korea 1996 26 Norway6 1997 25 Sweden 1994 19 Spain 1996 16 Slovak Republic 1997 13 UK7 1999–2000 11 France*8 1995 10 Iceland 1997 10 Greece 1997 8 Ireland 1995 8 Portugal 1997 5 Japan* 1993 4 Poland 1997 2 Russian Federation 1992 1 Hungary 1996 0 Mexico 1997 n/a Turkey 1995 n/a Czech Republic 1994 n/a New Zealand 1995 n/a Italy 1997 n/a Luxembourg9 1996 n/a 1 Household waste only 2 Flanders only—includes 33OK of construction waste 3 May include waste from demolition sites, sewerage and water treatment 4 Household only 5 Includes construction/demolition waste and sewage sludge 6 Includes construction/demolition waste 7 Based on England and Wales data from Municipal Waste Survey 8 Household (excluding bulky waste) only 9 Total waste generated excludes separate collection Notes:
Recycling rate is based on composting and recycling tonnage divided by the total waste generated. For those countries marked * the total waste generated is less than the total of all disposals because residues of some treatments e.g. (composting) are landfilled. The relevant recycling rate may therefore include some material which is subsequently landfilled.
Source:
OECD Environmental Data: Compendium 1999, Table 7.2C
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§ Mr. BaronTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what initiatives the Government plans to encourage local authorities to raise waste recycling targets; [6212]
(2) what financial assistance will be given to Essex County Council to help fund waste recycling initiatives. [6211]
§ Mr. MeacherWe have put in place statutory performance standards on recycling that all local authorities must achieve by 2003–04 and 2005–06. We have also said that we would look again at longer-term targets in the light of what local authorities are able to achieve and in the light of any technological developments.
The Spending Review 2000 announced the framework for the Government's support to local authorities for the next three years up to 2003–04. This included an annual increase in the revenue support to local authorities for Environmental Protection and Cultural Services (EPCS), which includes waste management efforts. By 2003–04 this support will have risen by £1.1 billion over the 2000–01 provision. Consistent with the general local authority financial framework, it is for Essex County Council to decide the proportion of their budget that should be directed to waste management work.
In addition to general support to local authority revenue expenditure, the spending review provided £140 million of Government grant for waste management work and £220 million for Private Finance Initiatives (PFI) resources, for waste projects. We will shortly consult on how the £140 million grant should be distributed. At this stage it is not possible to identify what funding Essex County Council might receive from this source.
Local Public Service Agreements also provide opportunities for authorities to commit themselves to exceeding the statutory recycling targets and to be rewarded with additional resources for doing so.
We have also established the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) to promote sustainable waste management by working to create stable markets for recycled materials and products and remove barriers to waste minimisation, re-use and recycling. A stable and efficient market for recycled materials will help local authorities in their efforts to meet their statutory performance targets.
§ Mr. BaronTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what initiatives the Government have to make the public more aware of the importance of waste recycling. [6215]
§ Mr. MeacherDEFRA's "Are You Doing Your Bit?" campaign promotes messages to encourage people to reduce waste (including through recycling), use energy efficiently, and conserve water. The campaign aims to inform people about the impact of their individual and collective actions and to motivate individuals to make small changes in their everyday actions to protect the environment.
The Department also supports the activities of the National Waste Awareness Initiative. This programme, targeted predominantly at the general public, aims to encourage more responsible attitudes towards waste and 1054W ways of dealing with it that are more sustainable eg to reduce it at source, re-use it, recycle it, or dispose of it safely if no other alternative exists.
§ Mr. SayeedTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) if she will make a statement on her target for recycling household waste; [7764]
(2) what plans she has to set higher targets for recycling. [7771]
§ Mr. MeacherUnder the Local Government Act 1999, the Government have set statutory performance standards for each English local authority for the composting and recycling of household waste. Overall, these standards require a doubling of recycling in 2003–04 and a tripling by 2005–06 compared to the 1998–99 baseline.
We will increase further the targets for household waste recycling and composting once these initial targets have been achieved.