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Dept for Environment Food and Rural Affairs

Answer

Mr. Hurst: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what capacity there is in the United Kingdom for the (a) treatment, (b) recovery and (c) recycling of (i) end of life vehicles and (ii) electrical and electronic equipment. [139460] Mr. Morley: A recent study, undertaken by the Industry Council for Electronics Recycling (ICER), estimated the UK's current capacity to treat waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) to be between 130 and 180 facilities UK wide. At present, there are between 70 and 120 specialist treatment facilities that only treat and process electrical waste, mainly IT waste. There are also 19 fridge recyclers in the UK, and ICER suggest that these facilities may turn to treatment of other WEEE in the future. In addition to the specialist treatment facilities, there are around 40 plants UK wide that shred and granulate WEEE in preparation for recycling, and these types of plants treat most types of WEEE, alongside other waste streams, like end-of-life vehicles (ELVs). Similarly, it is estimated that there are presently around 950 businesses with waste management licences, and a further 1,750 registered exempt businesses, treating end-of-life vehicles. A recent study, carried out for the Department by TRL Ltd., calculated that approximately 77 per cent. of the weight of ELVs scrapped in 2000 was reused, recovered and recycled. However, it is not clear what the UK capacity will be for recycling WEEE, although we do know that much of the recycling industry has already taken the opportunity to recycle electronic and vehicle scrap now entering the waste stream.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

139460; 413 c914W;413 c914-5W

Session

2002-03

Subjects

Cars Electronic equipment Recycling Waste management Waste disposal Vehicles

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk