§ Dr. Evan HarrisTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what storage facilities she has identified for the storage of fridges and deep freezers containing CFCs prior to their reprocessing. [27608]
§ Mr. MeacherThe location of storage facilities is a matter for the waste management industry and local authorities. A number of companies and local authorities have identified suitable storage facilities and I understand that sufficient capacity is available for all fridges and freezers that would be disposed of in a typical year.
§ Dr. Evan HarrisTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what advice she has given to local authorities regarding the increased cost of collecting domestic appliances containing CFCs from 1 January; and when she plans to announce additional resources to be made available to local authorities under the New Burdens Procedures; [27609]
(2) what estimate she has made of additional costs to local authorities of collecting white goods from 1 January. [27610]
§ Mr. MeacherIn December we announced a payment of £6 million funding for local authorities to cover their costs until March 2002. We are continuing to assess the impacts of the regulation and will determine what further action is required beyond that. As part of this process, my officials are in contact with local authorities and their representatives to gather additional information about costs.
§ Dr. Evan HarrisTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimates she has made of the cost to local authorities per refrigerator of the collection, storage and processing of CFC-containing refrigerators. [27607]
§ Mr. MeacherCollection costs will vary between local authorities and waste collection authorities may levy a charge to cover the costs of collection. I understand that the current charges levied by waste management companies for storage and processing of fridges are in the range of £22 to £35, but that these are likely to fall once more plants are operational. We expect new plants to come on-line in the spring.
611WMany local authorities will choose to store fridges until prices are lower. The cost of storage will depend on whether local authorities have suitable land available, and the period for which fridges are stored.
§ Dr. Evan HarrisTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if it was her policy to ensure that liquid processing facilities existed for the processing of CFC-containing refrigerators and refrigerators when EC Regulation 2037/2000 came into force on the 1 January. [27612]
§ Mr. MeacherThe UK only received clarification of the requirements of the regulation with regards to ozone depleting substances in insulation foam in June 2001. As soon as this was received, officials worked, with stakeholders, on a package of measures, including funding for local authorities, technical standards for removal of ODS from fridges and standards for storage pending treatment. This package enabled companies to make the necessary investment decisions. Given the extremely tight time scale, it was always unlikely that processing plant would come on-line for 1 January. However, I understand that the first new plant is likely to be operational in spring 2002.