§ Mr. Peter DuncanTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what funds are available to businesses wishing to explore new methods of(a) recycling and (b) disposing of waste plastics. [162228]
§ Mr. MorleyIn addition to the general support that is available to businesses funded by the Department of Trade and Industry, the Waste and Resources Action Programme may fund research and development, capital investment or business advice and support for projects concerned with the recycling of plastics.
Further support may be available through Defra's Waste Implementation Programme which has a research budget for funding work on recycling and sustainable disposal methods across all waste streams. Defra is developing a waste research strategy which will identify key areas where research activity will need to be focused.
§ Mr. Peter DuncanTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the uses to which recycled waste farm plastics may be put. [162257]
§ Mr. MorleyWe understand that recycled farm plastics can be used to make a range of products including damp proof membrane and damp proof courses, refuse sacks and bin liners, clinical waste sacks and aprons, plastic pallets and street and garden furniture.
§ Norman BakerTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will issue guidance to businesses to focus waste collection efforts where this delivers maximum economic and environmental benefit. [163096]
§ Mr. MorleyThere are no plans to issue guidance to businesses to focus collection efforts. However, the Government does fund Envirowise, an organisation that offers free, independent advice to business on practical ways to minimise waste and increase profit.
In addition, Budget 2003 announced that increases in the standard rate of landfill tax would be revenue neutral to business as a whole. To achieve this Government are proposing a package of measures 1211W including grants, other financial support measures and extending promotional and capacity building services to support a broader range of commercial and industrial sectors. These measures, which are undergoing detailed development, with consultation, should help businesses improve their waste performance.
§ Norman BakerTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what budget will be available in 2004–05 to the Waste and Resources Research Advisory Group. [162443]
§ Mr. MorleyNo budget is allocated to the Waste and Resources Research Advisory Group (WRRAG), beyond minor costs incurred in the running of the group. WRRAG's role is to make recommendations to Defra on key research priorities to be addressed in a three-year waste research strategy currently being drawn up. The strategy will be subject to consultation later in the year and will be put out to wider consultation.
§ Norman BakerTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether appointments to the Waste and Resources Research Advisory Group have been made in accordance with the Nolan principles. [162444]
§ Mr. MorleyThe Waste and Resources Research Advisory Group is classified as an ad hoc advisory group and is not constituted formally as a non-departmental public body. However, appointments have been fully consistent with the ethical parameters set out by the seven Nolan principles of selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty and leadership. The group is providing Defra with expert input into the development of a three-year waste research strategy, which will be subject to consultation later in this year.
§ Norman BakerTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list the(a) title and (b) subject matter of the waste management research projects that have been commissioned by (i) her Department and (ii) bodies sponsored by her Department since 1 April 2003. [162445]
§ Mr. MorleyResearch projects commissioned by Defra and bodies sponsored by it since 1 April 2003 are set out in the following list. The titles indicate the subject matter.
Defra
- Hazardous Waste and WEEE: identifying products and components of present and historic WEEE that are hazardous
- A review of exemptions from the waste management licensing regulations for hazardous waste
- An action plan for the reduction and environmentally sound management of hazardous waste
- Review of Environmental and Health Effects of Waste Management: Municipal Solid Waste and Similar Wastes
Environment Agency
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- Waste management life cycle assessment tool—model development
- List I organic biodegradation/sorption within landfill liners
- Establishing equilibrium and pollutant removal requirements for UK landfill
- The management of hazardous wastes under new EU legislation
- Factors affecting the generation of chloroethene and associated trace gases in landfill
Waste and Resources Action Programme
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- To increase timber waster recycling through determining and promoting best practice in the furniture industry
- Develop methods and sampling protocols for measuring contaminants in recycled wood panelboard sector
- Wood residues footprint for the M62 west corridor
- Rapid identification and sorting of preservative treated timber
- NIRA as a tool for assessing recycled wood
- Development of waste sawdust as a plant protection material for horticulture and agriculture
- To further develop plastic media for water filtration units with a known service life in larger filtration units
- Develop process for recycling carpet waste
- Development of mass produced thermoplastic panels
- Achieve certification of products containing recycled plastics
- Tonnages and collection of construction site packaging
- REWARD and Photochem: an assessment of the weathering of recycled plastics
- Identifying and maximising affordable plastic bottle collection systems from household kerbside collections
- Materials and products from UK-sourced PVC-rich waste for new and existing markets
- New applications for Jazz PET
- Development of Food Grade HDPE Recycling Process
- Develop Options for enhancing Commercial and Industrial Film Collection
- Study to Identify Methods of Enhancing Local Authority Collection of Plastics
- Use of Post-Consumer Recyclate in Retail Packaging
- Research to determine performance of recycled glass sand compared to sand in the sports turf industry
- Determine Vortex grinder construction materials for cullet grinding
- Identifying legal and commercial barriers to glass recycling in West Oxfordshire—Oxford Brookes University
- Increase use of mixed colour cullet reprocessing
- To identify BPEO's for use of glass cullet in construction and promote technical confidence in it's use in the construction industry
- Research to replace current "fluxing" agent in sanitary ware with waste bottle glass
- Improve site practices for collection and clean separation of composite materials
- To develop methodology for recycling lamp glass, overcoming technical and practical barriers to recycling
- Researching the use of ground glass in brick manufacture
- Produce advanced filtration medium using processed glass material
- Closing the fibre waste recycling loop
- Materials recovery from waste cathode ray tubes
- ConGlassCrete II
- Increasing collection and recycling of post consumer domestic window waste Feasibility study for the removal of colour from the glass furnace
- Pilot Studies for glass collection from urban licensed premises
- Pilot Studies for Glass Collection from Urban Licensed Premises
- To develop test methods and inorganic contamination limits for recovered container glass
- R and D Promoting Recycled Paper (Cellulose) Insulants in Metallic Modular Construction
- Toolbox approach to improved recycled fibre use in the UK corrugated case industry
- Research into using recycled waste paper residues in construction products
- Support development of standards for compost by investigating pathogens of concern for high-quality end-uses (follows Compost standards open R and D competition)
- Market development—peat substitution
- Determining the market share of recycled materials in the UK economy: development of methodology
§ Norman BakerTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what funding(a) her Department and (b) bodies sponsored by it have made available since March 2003 for research projects relating to waste management. [162446]
§ Mr. MorleyThe following funding has been made available for research projects relating to waste management by Defra and bodies sponsored by Defra, since March 2003:
Organisation £000 Defra 161 Environment Agency 1,220 Waste and Resource Action Programme 2,695 No funds have yet been assigned to research from Defra's Waste Implementation Programme research budget.
§ Norman BakerTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the additional resources that will be made available to(a) the Environment Agency and (b) local authorities to detect the unlicensed management of waste. [162465]
§ Mr. MorleyThe Environment Agency is funded through GIA for its enforcement work. This year, about £12 million was spent on waste-related enforcement activity. Local authorities receive funding through the EPCS element of their block grant and will decide resource allocations according to local priorities.
Defra is currently consulting on a fly-tipping strategy which is designed to ensure greater effectiveness, achieved within existing resources.
However, Defra has given the Environment Agency additional funding this year to set up and maintain "Flycapture", a web based database that will enable local authorities and the Agency to fulfil the data requirements of the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003.
§ Norman BakerTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what modelling her Department has(a) undertaken and (b) commissioned into the possible impact of the implementation of higher environmental standards on illegal waste (i) management and (ii) disposal activity. [161800]
§ Mr. MorleyDefra launched a consultation on its proposed Fly-Tipping Strategy on 23 February 2004. This strategy proposes several changes to help deal with illegally disposed waste and contains a partial regulatory impact assessment (RIA).
1214WDefra is also commissioning a comprehensive research project looking at the causes and incentives of illegal waste disposal that will result in a good practice guide for practitioners focusing on pro-active, preventative policies.