§ Sarah TeatherTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what 493W recommendations she has made to local authorities for recycling levels of (a) domestic refuse, (b) commercial refuse and (c) industrial refuse. [149957]
§ Mr. MorleyThe Government have set statutory performance standards for local authorities in 2003–04 and 2005–06 for the recycling and composting of household waste. The targets are based on the amount of household waste recycled and composted in 1998–99 and require each authority, on average, to double its recycling and composting rate by 2003–04, and triple it by 2005–06.
Local authorities are not required by law to collect commercial and industrial waste but can do so if asked to by an occupier of premises in their area. The occupier is required to pay the local authority for this service. There is no obligation placed upon local authorities to recycle this waste and, if they do, it will not contribute to their statutory performance standards, which only cover household waste.
Commercial and industrial waste collected by local authorities does, however, fall within the definition of municipal waste and is therefore subject to the Landfill Directive requirements to reduce biodegradable municipal waste going to landfill. All waste disposed of in landfill site is also subject to the Landfill Tax. Both the announced increases in the Landfill Tax to raise it to £35 a tonne in the medium to long-term and the introduction of the Landfill Allowance Trading Scheme from 2005, to implement the Landfill Directive requirements, will encourage more recycling.
§ Sarah TeatherTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what percentage of(a) domestic refuse, (b) commercial refuse and (c) industrial refuse was recycled in (i) Brent, (ii) London and (iii) England in the last year for which records are available. [149958]
§ Mr. MorleyThe information is as follows:
(a) The most recent year's figures for household waste are found in the Municipal Waste Management Survey for 2001–02.
Percentage London borough of Brent 7 London 9.3 England 12.4 (b) and (c) The most recent year's figures for commercial waste and for industrial waste are found in the Strategic Waste Management Assessment 2000, published by the Environment Agency, relating to figures for 1998–99. The survey collected data from a sample of 20,000 businesses across England and Wales.
Percentage Commercial waste Industrial waste London borough of Brent Not collected Not collected West London (including Brent) 25.5 29.5 Greater London 30.6 37.6 England 22.5 34