Asked by Lord Teverson To ask Her Majesty’s Government what
action they are taking following the decision of the Government of
China to restrict imports of foreign waste. The Parliamentary
Under-Secretary of State, Department for Environment, Food and
Rural Affairs (Lord Gardiner of Kimble) (Con) My Lords, since
China’s announcement the Government have raised their concerns
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Asked by
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To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking
following the decision of the Government of China to restrict
imports of foreign waste.
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Gardiner of Kimble)
(Con)
My Lords, since China’s announcement the Government have
raised their concerns on the scope and scale of the
restrictions through the EU and WTO. We are working with
local government and industry to minimise the impacts on
public health and the environment and to assist in assessing
alternative markets. We want to improve the quality of
materials collected for recycling and reform the producer
responsibility scheme for packaging to reduce waste.
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(LD)
My Lords, I thank the Minister for his reply and for his
longer-term vision. However, the Government have been slow on
this. We have a crisis. First, will the Minister guarantee
that landfill will not increase significantly in the short
term? Secondly, when warehousing or providing greater storage
of waste material while we find a market for it, will the
Environment Agency and other agencies make sure that
pollution locally does not happen and fire hazards are kept
to a minimum?
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My Lords, since the Government heard of China’s decision in
July, a great deal of work has been done. I can assure your
Lordships’ on that. It is clear that the last resort is
always landfill. More reuse, recycling and energy recovery in
this country is the top priority. Landfill will always be the
last resort. The noble Lord is right about the role of the
Environment Agency, which is very important. It has been
working with key partners and issuing guidance. It is
important that the well-being of the environment is the
number one priority,
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(Con)
My Lords, my noble friend may not be entirely surprised by my
supplementary question. Does he agree that it would greatly
mitigate the effect of the decision by the Government of
China if we stopped wrapping just about anything and
everything in plastic?
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My Lords, my noble friend makes an important point. What we
want to do, through the resources and waste strategy which
will be published later this year and the clean growth
strategy which was published in October last year, is to see
zero avoidable waste. We want to see less packaging and that
the plastic we do use is readily recyclable.
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(Lab)
My Lords, does the noble Lord agree that, apart from
persuading consumers to use less plastic, the Government
should be doing more to encourage emerging technologies in
this area by creating markets for recycled plastics? Sadly,
the first wave of plastic recycling companies could not
survive because virgin plastic was cheaper than recycled
plastic. Is this not an area in which the Government really
should be intervening to ensure that there are proper markets
for recycled goods so that the recycling companies can grow
and prosper?
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My Lords, the noble Baroness is absolutely right. We want to
ensure that we use all the innovation and technology we can.
It is interesting to note that a number of the key waste
management companies see what has happened in China as,
ironically, a real opportunity. Companies like Suez and Biffa
are saying that there are real opportunities in this and they
want to find alternative markets. This is a serious situation
on an international scale. For example, some 56% of globally
exported plastic waste ends up in China, so we need to
address this issue on a global basis.
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(CB)
My Lords, can the Minister tell us what percentage of the
some 500,000 tonnes of plastic waste that are estimated to be
exported from this country to China each year are actually
capable of being recycled? Further, in his response to the
noble Lord, , he did not say anything
about incineration. There has been some speculation that the
Government might support incineration, but would that not be
simply adding one environmental degradation to another?
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My Lords, I used the phrase energy recovery. That is via the
use of incineration and the source of fuel it provides is a
much better use than landfill. Moreover, landfill quantities
have been reduced dramatically. Some 3.7 million tonnes of
plastic waste are created in this country of which 0.4
million tonnes is sent to China. That actually represents a
reduction from 0.7 million tonnes of waste being exported in
2010, so a reducing amount of waste is going to China.
However, it is clear that we need to do better, and that is
why we are working on this issue.
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(Lab)
My Lords, in thinking about the importance of recycling, can
the Minister tell the House what research the Government know
about, or are supporting, into the development of
biodegradable materials that can be used, particularly in
packaging? Some are available but the quantities are small
relative to the stuff which is advertised as being
recyclable. While I am on my feet, could I also ask the noble
Lord to put in a plug, when he is thinking about recycling,
for home composting? It is frightfully useful to anyone who
has a garden.
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My Lords, I am a fanatically zealous composter, as my wife
knows very well. Whether waste is biodegradable or whether we
are considering the better use of plastics, by which I mean
quality plastic that is consistent and is readily recyclable
across the country, we want to learn from the best examples.
Many local authorities are doing extremely well in this area
and we want to replicate their work across the country.
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(Con)
My Lords, I declare my interest as a board member of WRAP. I
welcome the fact that today is the day when the ban on the
use of microbeads will be introduced. I also welcome the fact
that some 9 billion fewer plastic bags are in circulation
than when the levy was introduced. However, will my noble
friend look carefully at the recyclability of takeaway coffee
cups, which currently cannot be recycled properly? What are
the Government going to do about this?
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My Lords, I endorse what my noble friend says about plastic
bags. There has been a reduction of 83% of the plastic bags
in circulation, and now we have the microbeads ban. We are
working with the Treasury on a call for evidence this year
seeking views on how the tax system or charges could reduce
the amount of single-use plastic waste whether in the form of
coffee cups, straws and so on. We need to adopt a different
attitude to all of these issues, and I am very pleased that
we are working on them.
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