§ Malcolm BruceTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) whether the 2001 United Kingdom business package waste recovery and recycling targets for(a) recovery and (b) material-specific recycling were met; and whether the percentage levels of business packaging waste recovery and recycling in the United Kingdom in 2001 satisfied the stipulations of the EU Packaging Waste Directive 1994; [46357]
(2) what the percentage levels of (a) business packaging waste recovery and (b) business packaging recycling were in the United Kingdom in 2001. [46358]
§ Mr. Meacher[holding answer 26 March 2002]: The recovery and recycling targets in article 6(1) of the EC Directive on Packaging and Packaging Waste—94/62EC—were implemented in Great Britain by the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 1997 (as amended).
In order to comply with the requirements in the Directive, recovery and recycling targets for 2001 under the packaging regulations were 56 per cent. for recovery and 18 per cent. for material-specific recycling of packaging waste. Final figures for 2001 are not yet available, but data received to date suggest that, if all obligated parties met their obligations, these targets should be met. This would mean that the UK had recovered 4.6 million tonnes of packaging waste in 2001 ie 50 per cent. We would expect to recycle some 45 per cent. We also anticipate that all materials will meet the 15 per cent. material-specific recycling target in the Directive, with the possible exception of plastic.