HC Deb 18 June 2002 vol 387 cc222-3W
Mr. Tynan

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what incentives she gives to local authorities to encourage the development and introduction of recycling facilities. [59746]

Mr. Meacher

Statutory performance standards for recycling and composting have been set to drive up performance by local authorities as part of the Government's waste strategy. The Government are committed to the achievement of these targets and will intervene if necessary to ensure they are delivered.

Local public service agreements provide opportunities for authorities to commit themselves to exceeding the statutory recycling targets and to be rewarded with additional resources for doing so.

Spending Review 2000 increased both the general revenue support to local authorities on waste management services and specific, ring-fenced, funding. A new £140 million fund has been created for local authority waste minimisation and recycling projects. The fund covers two years, and bids for the first year of funding were invited by 30 April 2002. They are currently being assessed by DEFRA policy officials and an expert panel consisting of various waste, local authority and community sector experts.

Mr. Tynan

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what Government procedures are in place to monitor the(a) levels and (b) types of recycling being undertaken by local authorities in relation to normal daily disposal of refuse from households. [59745]

Mr. Meacher

Under the Best Value Performance Indicators, local authorities in England make annual returns on the percentage of the total tonnage of household waste arisings which have been sent for recycling (BV82a) or composting (BV82b). In addition, my Department's annual Municipal Waste Management Survey collects information on different types of materials collected for recycling and composting. For example, the Municipal Waste Management Survey shows that recycling of household waste plastics increased to 13,000 tonnes in 1999–2000, compared to 8,000 tonnes for the previous year.