Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Baroness Eaton (Conservative). It was answered on Wednesday, 7 September 2011.

Environment: Litter and Waste

Question: Would the Government consider having their experts look at drawing up a recommended list of materials for recycling, which could be very helpful both to local government and to individuals?

Answer: My noble friend is quite right to draw to the House’s attention the problems of the vast variety of different plastics that we use—I cannot remember how many there are—and the problems of recycling them. I think that currently we recycle some 24 per cent of packaging. We would like to get that figure up. Obviously it might be easier to do that if we could reduce the number of different forms of plastic, but that would take quite a long time, a great many behavioural changes and changes by the producers. Certainly, as my noble friend suggests, it is something that we could look at.

Secondary information

Type: Oral question
Reference: 730 c274
Session: 2010-12
Oral question type: Supplementary
Chamber / Committee: House of Lords chamber
Subjects: Biodegradability Labelling Litter Standards Waste disposal Street cleaning Plastic bags
Link: View this Oral question on www.publications.parliament.uk