§ The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Margaret Beckett)The Government are publishing the sixth section of theFramework for Sustainable Development on the Government Estate (Framework) on waste today. This is available on the sustainable development in Government website. Copies of the website, on CD-Rom, will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
The waste section of the Framework sets for the first time a Government wide commitment to reduce waste on the Government estate, and increase recycling and composting rates. It encourages Departments to purchase re-usable, recyclable, and recycled products; and return used products to manufacturers. This will make an important contribution to the UK's target on reducing waste sent to landfill, and will help deliver our commitment to moving up the waste hierarchy towards more sustainable waste management practices.
The Framework now requires all relevant waste management contracts to take account of measures and opportunities for reducing and avoiding the impact of waste, and for collecting waste management data. 87WS Departments must draw up sustainable waste management strategies setting out how they will deal with these issues.
Our ongoing work on the Framework defines a set of cross-Government targets for sustainable development, and outlines the mechanisms by which Departments will be expected to achieve them. These challenging targets give a clear indication of the Government's continued determination to take a lead in the practical implementation and achievement of sustainable development.
The Framework for Sustainable Development on the Government Estate can be viewed at www.sustainable-development.gov.uk/sdig/improving/index.htm