§ Mrs. Iris RobinsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment he has made of the dangers to the environment from batteries containing mercury and other toxic metals, being dumped in local waste dumps in Northern Ireland. [155506]
§ Angela SmithThe potential adverse environmental impacts from mercury are universally accepted. However, the EC Scientific Committee on Toxicity, Ecotoxicity and the Environment recognises that there is no methodology to assess the long-term risks of leachate from landfills.
Industry voluntary measures introduced in 1985 and EC legislation since 1991 have gradually reduced the amount of mercury in batteries, resulting in a reduction in landfilled mercury across the UK from an estimated 4.4t in 1994 to 0.028t in 2000; over time this amount will effectively fall to zero.
Other current EC legislation will increase the collection and recycling of spent batteries and ban the co-disposal of hazardous and non-hazardous waste at landfill sites.