Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Lord Knight of Weymouth (Labour). It was answered on Wednesday, 7 September 2011.

Environment: Litter and Waste

Question: My Lords, the Government’s waste review set out the noble ambition of a zero-waste economy. I ask the Minister, what role do standards and targets have in achieving that? The previous Government legislated to take powers to tackle the profusion of plastic bags, and we have heard how such powers are being used by the Welsh Assembly Government. Wales also has a recycling target of 70 per cent. Is this Government’s lack of action connected to the abandoning of any recycling targets in England?

Answer: I am not always convinced that targets are necessarily the right way to go forward. Targets can very often distort behaviour and distort priorities and how people deal with things. We made clear in our waste review that we want to make it easy for individuals and organisations to do the right thing, because a great many of them want to do just that. We will continue that process, and I hope that as a result we will head towards that zero-waste economy that we are looking for.

Secondary information

Type: Oral question
Reference: 730 c274-5
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