Written question asked by Ashok Kumar (Labour) on Monday, 26 November 2001, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 3 December 2001. It was answered by Michael Meacher (Labour) on Monday, 3 December 2001 on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Dept for Environment Food and Rural Affairs

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress has been made in encouraging companies to reduce packaging.

Answer: Dr. Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what progress has been made in encouraging companies to reduce packaging. [19054] Mr. Meacher: The EC Directive on Packaging and Packaging Waste--94/62/EC--was implemented in Great Britain by the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 1997 (as amended). The Regulations require businesses who deal with packaging to recover and recycle specified tonnages of packaging waste, calculated by the amount of packaging handled by the business. Businesses can reduce their obligation by using less and reusing packaging whenever possible. By increasing the amount reused producers are able to reduce the tonnages of packaging waste they are required to recover and so lessen their costs of compliance. The recovery and recycling targets for 2001 under the packaging Regulations are 56 per cent. for recovery and 18 per cent. for material-specific recycling of packaging waste. Data received to date suggests that, if businesses meet their obligations, these targets should be met.

Secondary information