Recycling (Hansard, 10 June 2003)

§ Norman Baker
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what information she has collated in respect of average journey times to transport material collected for recycling to its destination point for processing. [114262]

§ Mr. Meacher
No information has been collated in respect of average journey times to transport material collected for recycling to its destination point for processing.

§ Mr. Sheerman
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the potential impact on the export trade of unsorted kerbside collected recyclables from English recycling schemes to Pacific Rim countries on economic regeneration in the UK, with special reference to the Government's Waste Strategy Proximity Principle. [114793]

§ Mr. Meacher
No assessment has been made of the potential impact on the export trade of unsorted kerbside collected recyclables from English recycling schemes to Pacific Rim countries on economic regeneration in the UK. Local authorities must dispose of waste in accordance with the Best Practical Environmental Option (BPEO) which necessitates paying attention to the proximity principle. Waste shipments for recovery must meet the strict criteria that apply to shipments of waste to non-OECD countries under EC legislation. The criteria applied to these shipments of waste for recovery include, among others, that the waste is non-hazardous, not contaminated, and that any Pacific Rim country, if not an OECD member, will have clarified to the European Commission that it is willing and able to recover the waste in an environmentally sound manner.

§ Mr. Sheerman
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will take action to reduce the disparity between the cost of exporting unsorted recyclables and the cost of sorting them in the UK. [114794]

§ Mr. Meacher
The Government's priority is to increase the amount of waste that is reused or recycled. It may be necessary to export some recyclate for recovery in order to achieve these aims. The Government however, is acting to extend the market for recyclates in the UK and has set up the Waste and Resources Action Programme to create stable and efficient markets for recycled materials and products and to remove barriers to re-use and re-cycling in the UK.