HC Deb 23 October 2003 vol 411 cc671-2W
Mr. Lidington

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much recycled rubber was imported in each of the last five years; what proportion imports accounted for of all recycled rubber used in each of those years; and if she will make a statement. [132670]

Mr. Mike O'Brien

Figures for the import of recycled rubber are:

Kilograms
Imports
Reclaimed rubber1 Waste rubber
1998 2,712,604 4,038,920
1999 2,200,850 3,442,150
2000 1,186,301 3,807,662
2001 1,325,191 5,084,458
2002 2,246,603 6,749,131
1Reclaimed rubber in primary forms or in plates, sheets or strip (CN 400300.
2 Waste parings and scrap of unhardened rubber and powders and granules obtained therefrom (CN400400).

Although there is some limited information on the sales of reclaimed rubber by UK manufacturers [PRODCOM Report PRA 25130, available from the National Statistics website http://www.statistics.gov.uk/onlineproducts/PRODCOM2001_annual.asp], it excludes reclaimed rubber not sold because it is subsequently used by the same manufacturer. It also excludes such recycled rubber products as those obtained by cutting up worn-out tyres. As such it is not possible to produce an estimate of the use of recycled rubber.