To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what duties are placed on local authorities to assist with the safe disposal of invasive weeds; who is responsible for monitoring this process to ensure that all waste is safely disposed of to ensure that rhizomes cannot spread; and whether she plans to issue further guidance and assistance to local authorities to ensure these criteria are met. [117800]

Local authorities' responsibilities for the collection and disposal of waste are set out in sections 45, 48 and 51 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. These responsibilities relate to local authorities' functions as waste collection and waste disposal authorities.Section 34 of the 1990 Act imposes a duty of care on everyone with responsibility for waste—including waste collection and disposal authorities. It requires everyone subject to the duty to take all reasonable measures to prevent the escape of waste from their control and to ensure that it is disposed of by someone who is authorised to do so. My right hon. Friend the Secretary