Waste Performance Reward Grant (Hansard, 19 November 2003)

§ Mr. Hurst
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the practice in other EU countries in relation to excluding rubble and incineration bottom ash from recycling totals. [139455]

§ Mr. Morley
No detailed assessments have been made of the practice in other EU countries. In the UK and England, any wastes that are recycled are included in the relevant statistics for recycling.
However, for the purposes of local authority Best Value Performance Standards in England, rubble and incineration bottom ash, among some other wastes, are excluded from the recycling figures. They are not included in the Standards because the Government want to encourage the recycling and composting of dry recyclables and compostable materials separated from mixed household wastes.

§ Mr. Hurst
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she expects to receive the report of the review into the health and environmental effects of waste disposal. [139458]

§ Mr. Morley
The report on the review of the environmental and health effects of waste management options is due to be published around the time of the pre-budget report.

§ Mr. Hurst
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what capacity there is in the United Kingdom for the(a) treatment, (b) recovery and (c) recycling of (i) end of life vehicles and (ii) electrical and electronic equipment. [139460]

§ Mr. Morley
A recent study, undertaken by the Industry Council for Electronics Recycling (ICER), estimated the UK's current capacity to treat waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) to be between 130 and 180 facilities UK wide. At present, there are between 70 and 120 specialist treatment facilities that only treat and process electrical waste, mainly IT waste. There are also 19 fridge recyclers in the UK, and ICER suggest that these facilities may turn to treatment of other WEEE in the future. In addition to the specialist treatment facilities, there are around 40 plants UK wide that shred and granulate WEEE in preparation for recycling, and these types of plants treat most types of WEEE, alongside other waste streams, like end-of-life vehicles (ELVs).
Similarly, it is estimated that there are presently around 950 businesses with waste management licences, and a further 1,750 registered exempt businesses, treating end-of-life vehicles. A recent study, carried out for the Department by TRL Ltd., calculated that approximately 77 per cent. of the weight of ELVs scrapped in 2000 was reused, recovered and recycled.
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However, it is not clear what the UK capacity will be for recycling WEEE, although we do know that much of the recycling industry has already taken the opportunity to recycle electronic and vehicle scrap now entering the waste stream.

§ Mr. Hurst
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent measures she has introduced on waste minimisation. [139461]

§ Mr. Morley
The Government have committed over £40 million over the next three years (2003–06) to the Waste and Resources Action Programme's (WRAP) waste minimisation work. Its work tackles waste minimisation through four schemesan expansion of home composting; promotion of re-usable nappies; a research and development programme, aimed at identifying and developing innovative approaches to waste minimisation; and work with major retailers to reduce the amount of waste entering the waste stream from supermarkets.
In addition, WRAP will take forward an education and awareness programme. This will operate at both a national and local level to raise the public's awareness about waste issues, including waste minimisation.

§ Mr. Hurst
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate she has made of the amount of commercial and industrial waste diverted to local authority managed civic amenity sites in the last year for which figures are available; and if she will make a statement. [139462]

§ Mr. Morley
Section 51(1) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 places a duty on waste disposal authorities to provide reasonably accessible places (civic amenity sites) for persons resident in their area to deposit their household waste. Section 51(3) of the 1990 Act enables waste disposal authorities to include in those sites arrangements for the deposit of other controlled waste (commercial and industrial waste) by other persons on such terms as to payment (if any) as the waste disposal authority determines.
Defra does not hold information on the amount of commercial and industrial waste diverted to local authority managed civic amenity sites.

§ Mr. Hurst
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many local authority projects for waste minimisation are funded from the Waste Minimisation and Recycling Fund. [139463]

§ Mr. Morley
In 2003–04, the National Waste Minimisation Fund received 34 funding bids for waste minimisation, including education. Of these, 11 received just over a total of £2 million.

§ Mr. Hurst
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the Waste Performance Reward Grant. [139464]

§ Mr. Morley
The Government announced on 12 August 2003 that they would consult interested parties on the design of the waste performance reward grant in the autumn. Preparations for launching the consultation are well-advanced.