2003 press releases

What a Waste: The Government Doesn't Know its 'R's from its Elbow

The Government's failing environmental strategy is turning Britain into one giant rubbish dump, according to Norman Baker MP, Liberal Democrat Shadow Environmental Secretary.

According to official figures, over 65 MILLION TONNES of rubbish were dumped or buried last year. This includes:

226,000 Old cars - DUMPED

94,000 Fridges - DUMPED

24 million car tyres - BURIED

6 billion disposable nappies - BURIED

5,600 tonnes of furniture - equivalent to 82,000 double beds - DUMPED

42.2 million bags of rubble - DUMPED

32 million printer cartridges - BURIED

2 million mobile phones - BURIED

468 million batteries - DUMPED

32 million glass water bottles - BURIED

972 million plastic water bottles - BURIED

Speaking ahead of the Zero Waste motion to conference, Norman Baker MP said:

"Labour is turning Britain into one giant rubbish dump. 65 million tonnes of waste dumped or buried is totally unacceptable.

"The Government's waste hierarchy - Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Recover - is missing one vital 'R' - Redesign. If a material cannot be recycled or reused, it should be redesigned until it can.

"Zero Waste is a huge undertaking, but one that can be achieved if the Government, industry and the public make the commitment.

"Instead of eliminating waste, the Government strategy is to replace disposal by landfill with a chain of incinerators up and down the country. It must get a grip and end 'rubbish dump Britain' now."

Notes to editors

(1) Abandoned Vehicles

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many abandoned vehicles there were in the UK in each year since 1992; and how many are projected for the next five years (a) in total and (b) in each region. [99226]

Mr. Meacher: Information on the number of abandoned vehicles in England and Wales is as follows:

Wales

In 2000-01 local authorities notified the National Assembly that there were 7,700 abandoned vehicles in Wales. This was the first year that this question was included in the National Assembly's Local Authority Municipal Waste Survey. No figures are available for earlier years.

England

Information on the numbers of abandoned vehicles was requested for the first time from local authorities as part of the Municipal Waste Management Survey 2000-01. Regional results from the survey, which include estimates for those local authorities that did not respond to the survey, are listed in the table. Results from the 2001-02 survey are currently being collected and initial estimates should be available in April. 

Government region	Abandoned vehicles (thousands)
North East	2.5
North West	9.2
Yorkshire and the Humber	7.7
East Midlands	11.9
West Midlands	20.7
East of England	28.9
London	83.6
South East	44.7
South West	17.2
Estimated England Total	226.4

It is not possible to provide projected figures for England or Wales as there is only one year's data to work with. Although costs of disposal will increase as a result of the depollution and dismantling requirements of the end-of-life vehicles directive, the impact on the number of abandoned vehicles is difficult to predict - much will depend upon future values of scrap metal and the effectiveness of the various initiatives which are being taken to tackle the abandoned vehicle problem.

The information requested is not held centrally in either Scotland or Northern Ireland.

(2) Tyres

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many tyres were (a) purchased, (b) reused and disposed of by (i) landfill, (ii) incineration, (iii) illegal fly tipping and (iv) other means in each year since 1992. [99271]

4 Mar 2003 : Column 905W

Mr. Meacher: The Used Tyre Working Group, which comprises representatives from the tyre industry and officials from the Department of Trade and Industry and the Environment Agency, has compiled statistics on

4 Mar 2003 : Column 906W

used tyres since 1995. The statistics, which are based on information supplied to the UTWG on a voluntary basis, are indicative in nature since the quality of the source data varies.

	Replacement tyre sales	Tyres on new vehicles	Total
	Units (m)	Tonnes (000s)	Units (m)	Tonnes (000s)	Units (m)	Tonnes (000s)
1995	27.9	382	11.2	94	39.1	476
1996	27.2	359	11.6	96	38.8	456
1997	26.6	369	12.4	100	39	468
1998	27.8	370	12.9	106	40.7	476
19991	26.3	275	12.7	103	38.9	378
2000	25	260	12.8	105	37.8	365
2001	26.9	284	14.1	114	41.0	398

1 From 1999 onwards, the method of calculating replacement tyre sales tonnage from unit information changed to better reflect the spread of commercial vehicle tyre sizes and weights.  

Tonnes (000s)1	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001
Reused2	72	87	93	110	92	99	94
Retreaded	124	116	110	86	66	56	49
Recycled	41	41	34	49	83	75	107
Energy recovery3	80	102	117	84	70	54	40
Total recovery	317	346	354	328	311	283	290
Other (inc. landfill)4	166	138	136	139	123	167	191
Used tyre arisings5	483	484	490	468	427	450	481

1 Units not separately identified, since recovery generally reported in tonnage terms.

2 Category includes part-worn tyres, tyres used for silage clamps and landfill engineering purposes and exports of used tyres.

3 Includes the former Elm Energy/Sita Tyre Recycling tyres to energy plant which closed in 2000.

4 The figure for landfill, as reported in the table, is effectively the balance between used tyre arisings and used tyre recovery. As well as covering the disposal of both whole and shredded tyres to landfill, it also includes those tyres which are disposed of to landfill as automotive shredder residue.

5 From 1999, total used tyre arisings have been based on the number of replacement tyre sales, numbers of vehicles scrapped and imports of used tyres as well as a proportion of tyres re-entering the waste stream after temporary re-use.  

12.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size: In 2001 there were 41m tyres purchased; of which 191,000 tonnes were sent to landfill (48%). This equates therefore to 19.7 million tyres.

(3) Fly-tipped Waste: Fridges, Furniture and Rubble 

Fly Tipping

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimated total volume of waste she estimates was illegally flytipped in each year since 1992, broken down by the nature of this waste. [99269]

4 Mar 2003 : Column 902W

Mr. Meacher: Fly tipped waste is collected by both local authorities and the Environment Agency. Data on the volume of fly tipped waste are not collected centrally and so estimates cannot be provided. However, a recent report looking at fly tipped waste on agricultural land estimated that 0.6 million tonnes of waste was deposited on agricultural land in England and Wales in 2001. This is broken down as follows.  

Waste type	Grossed up weights for England and Wales (tonnes)
White goods	2,900
Furniture	5,600
Green waste	94,000
General household waste	8,500
C and D waste	380,000
Cars	118,000
Tyres	8,700
Total 2	0.6 million 2

The Government is currently discussing with the Environment Agency the potential for setting up a national recording system for fly tipping which would record these type of data from both the Agency and local authorities in England.  

Fridges: Average weight (www.interdean.com) = 31kg. This means total dumped =93,550.

Furniture: Average weight of a double bed (www.interdean.com) = 68kg. This means that the total number dumped is equivalent 82,000.

Rubble: The average bag of rubble weighs 9kg; this means the total amount dumped is equivalent of 42.2m bags.

(4) Disposable Nappies

Nappies

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many disposable nappies she estimates were (a) used and (b) disposed of by (i) landfill, (ii) incineration and (iii) other means in the last year for which figures are available. [99247]

Mr. Meacher: The last national study on disposable nappies was in 1993. Local authorities have carried out more recent studies, and the results suggest that nappies constitute approximately 4-5 per cent. of the municipal waste stream.

The most recent figures show that 78 per cent. of municipal waste goes to landfill, 12 per cent. is recycled and 9 per cent. disposed of through thermal treatment. As disposable nappies cannot be recycled, using these figures we can estimate that approximately 90 per cent. are sent to landfill and 10 per cent. undergo thermal treatment.

New work on a new compositional analysis of the municipal waste stream is being started at the beginning of the next financial year, with figures expected in December 2004. Nappies will be identified separately in this work.

4 Mar 2003 : Column 904W 

4-5% of the total municipal waste stream are nappies = 1,340,830 tonnes (from PQ 99234), with 90% of disposable nappies are sent to landfill = 1.2m tonnes landfilled. Each nappy = 0.2kg (www.wen.org.uk) = 6billion nappies per annum sent to landfill 

(5) Printer Cartridges

40 million printer cartridges are sold annually, with remanufactured supplier cartridges account for between 15-20 per cent. of the sector. (Parliamentary Written Answer 85854 12/12/02). This means 32 million cartridges are dumped or incinerated per annum.

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) how many

12 Dec 2002 : Column 452W

(a) mobile phones and (b) printer cartridges were (i) recycled, (ii) reused overseas and (iii) disposed of within the UK waste stream in each year since 1990; [85852]

(2) what research has been conducted (a) by and (b) for her Department relating to the recycling and reuse of (i) mobile phones and (ii) printer cartridges. [85854]

Mr. Meacher [holding answer 11 December 2002]: There are no accurate figures on the number of mobile phones discarded in the UK, although it is estimated that around 15 million are replaced each year. An independent consumer survey carried out as part of a pilot study in 1997 for 'Mobile Take Back UK' shows that in the UK very few phones are actually discarded. The majority of people keep old phones, give them to relatives, or store them for emergency use. However, a number of schemes are now collecting mobile phones for refurbishment and recycling. A certain number of refurbished phones are also sold to eastern Europe, Asia and Africa where there is a strong second hand market.

Approximately 40 million printer cartridges are sold annually. Remanufactured supplier cartridges account for between 15-20 per cent. of the sector.

No research has been done to date either by or for the Department on the recycling and reuse of mobile phones and printer cartridges.

(6) Mobile Phones

Each year 15 million mobile phones are replaced (Parliamentary Written Answer 85854 12/12/02; http://www.shields-e.com/media/downloads/Fonebak%20FAQ.pdf)

According to a survey (Mobile Take Back UK: See http://www.mobiletakeback.co.uk/FAQ.htm) 13% of all mobile phones replaced each year are discarded - equating to 2m phones per annum entering the waste stream. 55% of phones are hoarded, meaning another 8m phones being hoarded each year.

(7) Batteries

Batteries (Recycling)

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what percentage of batteries were recycled in each year since 1997. [104547]

Mr. Meacher: At present precise data demonstrating a yearly percentage of batteries recycled in the UK is unavailable. Although it is estimated that approximately 90 per cent. of automotive batteries, 25 per cent. of nickel cadmium industrial batteries, 90 per cent.of lead acid industrial batteries and less than 1 per cent. of household batteries are recycled.

There is data available on the tonnages on batteries collected for recycling by local authorities, as reported in the Department's Annual Municipal Waste Management Survey (MWMS). However, the percentage of batteries recycled cannot be measured, as the tonnages of disposed batteries are unknown.

It should be noted that MWMS has only reported on batteries that surveyed Local Authorities collect for recycling, and it is known that there is a considerable amount of private recycling undertaken, especially car batteries, that is not recorded.

26 Mar 2003 : Column 225W 

"About 600 million batteries are sold in the UK each year (http://www.recycle.mcmail.com/battery.htm), meaning that with 78% of municipal waste going to landfill (PQ 99247) this equates to 468m household batteries being buried.

(8) Water Bottles: Glass and Plastic

Bottled Water

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what her estimate is of the number of litres of bottled (a) sparkling and (b) still water consumed in the United Kingdom in each year since 1992; and what percentage was supplied in (i) plastic, (ii) glass and (iii) other materials. [99291]

Mr. Morley: I have been asked to reply.

The Government do not themselves gather data to this level of detail. However, industry market intelligence data available to us show the following:

UK bottled water consumption Litres (million)	Still	Sparkling
1992	315	180
1993	330	200
1994	350	250
1995	440	288
1996	430	270
1997	495	279
1998	550	285
1999	696	300
2000	862	283
2001	990	270
2002	1,080	300

In addition, the data available reveal that in 2002, 81 per cent. of bottled water was supplied in plastic, nine per cent. in glass and 10 per cent. in other materials.

10 Mar 2003 : Column 8W

Glass Bottles: 9% of bottles of water are glass. This equates to 124m litre bottles. With 26% of glass recycled, this is the equivalent of 32.3m litre glass bottles

Plastic Bottles: 81% of bottles of water are plastic, equating to 1118m litre bottles. With just 3% collected for recycling, this equates to 1.1bn in the waste stream, and 972m in landfill sites.

Total weight of waste buried / dumped:

Municipal Waste Sent to Landfill (PQ99234) = 29.8m tonnes

Volume Dumped in Rural Areas (PQ99269) = 0.6m tonnes

Vehicles Dumped in Urban Areas (PQ99226) = 226,400 - 92,000 (Rural Areas) = 134,400 = 0.2m tonnes

Commercial Waste sent to landfill (PQ99234) = 13.4m tonnes

Industrial Waste sent to landfill (PQ99234) = 21.0m tonnes

Total weight = 65million tonnes

Waste Disposal

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the total volume of (a) domestic, (b) commercial and (c) other waste was in each region in each year since 2000 and projected to 2005, broken down by the proportion of waste (i) sent to landfill, (ii) incinerated and (iii) disposed of by other means. [99234]

Mr. Meacher: The available information is shown in the tables below. The latest available data for municipal waste are from the 2000/01 Municipal Waste Management Survey, by Defra and the National Assembly for Wales. In 2000-01 some 89 per cent of all municipal waste was domestic (household) waste. The latest available data for commercial and industrial waste are taken from the Environment Agency's National Waste Production Survey for 1999. Projections are not available.

Municipal waste 2000-01 Government Region	Municipal waste (000 tonnes)	Landfill disposal (percentage)	Incineration (percentage)	Other methods (percentage)
East Midlands	2,290	78	7	15
East of England	2,918	82	2	16
London	4,463	71	21	8
North East	1,452	75	19	6
NorthWest	4,155	90	1	9
South East	4,344	81	0	19
SouthWest	2,678	82	0	18
Wales	1,642	93	0	7
West Midlands	2,895	58	31	10
Yorkshire and the Humber	2,959	85	3	12
Total:	29,800	79	8	13

4 Mar 2003 : Column 907W

Commercial waste 2000-01 Government Region	Commercial waste (000 tonnes)	Landfill disposal (percentage)	Incineration (percentage)	Other methods (percentage)
East Midlands	1,787	49	5	46
East of England	2,487	63	1	36
London	4,350	56	1	43
North East	996	45	8	47
NorthWest	3,104	57	1	42
South East	4,043	56	1	43
SouthWest	2,322	52	1	48
Wales	1,141	68	0	32
West Midlands	2,340	45	9	46
Yorkshire & the Humber	2,231	48	3	49
Total:	24,802	54	3	43

 

Industrial Waste 1999 Government Region	Industrial waste (000 tonnes)	Landfill disposal (percentage)	Incineration (percentage)	Other methods (percentage)
East Midlands	5,919	49	2	49
East of England	3,652	46	2	52
London	2,740	40	4	56
North East	3,761	46	2	51
NorthWest	6,475	45	1	54
South East	4,958	46	1	53
SouthWest	2,914	40	3	57
Wales	4,989	33	1	66
West Midlands	5,219	41	4	55
Yorkshire and the Humber	9,465	37	1	62
Total:	50,090	42	2	56

Notes:

1. Percentages for tables may not add due to founding. 

2. 'Other Methods' for municipal waste will include recycled and composted waste and waste sent for refuse derived fuel.

3. 'Other Methods' for commercial and industrial waste will include land recovery, re-used and recycled and a proportion of waste sent for treatment or transfer station.

4. Industrial waste excludes construction and demolition, agriculture, mining and quarrying.

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