HC Deb 20 June 2002 vol 387 c489W
Mr. Drew

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what action the Government are taking to implement the Waste Incineration Directive; and if she will make a statement. [64094]

Mr. Meacher

My Department has today published a consultation paper that sets out how the Government intend to implement EC Directive 2000/76/EC on the incineration of waste. It is aimed at operators of incineration and co-incineration plant, regulators, waste producers and waste managers, all of whom will be affected by the implementation of that directive. It is also aimed at waste and environmental interest groups who have an interest in environmentally sound regulation.

The consultation raises a number of issues for consultation and includes a copy of the draft implementing regulations, directions to regulators and an explanatory commentary.

This consultation is solely about the mechanism to implement the tight controls on emissions from incinerators to which the UK has signed up throughout the passage of the Waste Incineration Directive. These controls embody what was already accepted and largely applied in the UK as good practice. This consultation is not about the place of incineration in waste management strategies. It is about ensuring that incinerators continue to be tightly regulated.