§ Lord Williams of Elvelasked Her Majesty's Government:
What are the new recovery and recycling targets for packaging waste for 2002 that they have decided on. [HL3397]
§ Lord WhittyNew business recovery and recycling targets for packaging waste in 2002 under the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 1997 (as amended) have been agreed by the Government. Subject to the approval of Parliament, these are as follows:
- Recovery 59 per cent
- Material-specific recycling 19 per cent.
The Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 1997 were made to enable the UK to meet its obligations under the EC Directive on Packaging and Packaging Waste, in particular the recovery and recycling targets in article 6 of that directive. The first targets that we and other member states had to achieve in 2001 under the Packaging Waste Directive were that at least 50 per cent of packaging waste be recovered, at least 25 per cent recycled and 15 per cent of each packaging material recycled.
On the assumption that the UK met these targets last year (and final figures are not yet ready), the targets I am proposing today should allow almost 5 million tonnes of packaging waste to be recovered in 2002.
The department has, as was indicated in the recent consultation paper on targets for 2002, reviewed the figures that were used to develop the targets for 2002 in that paper and in light of the changes in the amount of packaging data reported by businesses obligated under the packaging regulations and the estimates for the tonnages expected to be obligated in 2002, the Government have decided on a recovery target of 59 per cent and a material-specific target of 19 per cent.
As in previous years, the national targets for next year need to be seen as leading on to higher targets and the ones proposed by the Government should allow the UK to plan a smooth upward curve towards higher recovery and recycling targets over the next few years.