2004 press releases

Refill, Not Landfill: Local MP Presents 55,000 Signatures Telling Blair To Get It Right On Recycling

Local MP and Lib Dem Shadow Environment Secretary, Norman Baker has presented a 55,000-signature petition to the Prime Minister calling on the Government to put an end to the 32 million printer cartridges that are sent to landfill or incineration every year.

Under the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive items such as printers must be recycled, but the Government claims that cartridges are classed as consumables and therefore do not have to be recycled. According to the 'Refill Not Landfill' campaign and the Liberal Democrats the Government is misinterpreting the Directive.

The petition, organised in conjunction with Cartridge World, is part of an ongoing campaign encouraging the Government to include printer cartridges under the Directive. Norman was joined by Phil Willis, local Lib Dem MP for Cartridge World headquarters.

Norman said:

"Every year 6 million gallons of oil are used to replace the cartridges that end up in landfill sites or incinerators. That oil need not be used and is wasting valuable resources.

"The Government is hiding behind the detail of the WEEE Directive, but it's time it was exposed. There is no valid reason for printer cartridges to be excluded from this important recycling legislation. We want refill, not landfill"

|Home

|Issues

|Press

|Norman and his work

|Useful Links

|Contact Norman

|Site map and Search

|Norman's flickr page

|Norman's Facebook page

|National LibDem site