To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the recent growth of British recycling industries. (106236)

[holding answer 30 November 2006]: The recent growth of British recycling markets and facilities is encouraging. It signals our increasing ability to derive value from waste on a domestic level and a move towards more self-sufficiency with regards to waste management.

As well as encouraging more sustainable resource use, increasing recycling rates helps divert waste from landfill and therefore contributes to our efforts to reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions. The latest provisional statistics show that recycling and composting rates for household waste in England have reached 27 per cent.—this exceeds our 25 per cent. target and is a 4 per cent. increase on the previous year.

The Government intend to continue their funding of the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) to further stimulate domestic markets for recycled materials. One of WRAP's Business Plan targets, to be met by March 2008, is to deliver 10 per cent. sustainable growth in the specialist recycling and reprocessing sector. This is double the forecasted growth of Gross Domestic Product and will be worked towards by helping companies capitalise on opportunities so that recycling is economically viable, as well as environmentally sustainable. WRAP are also working to stimulate domestic markets for recyclate through new collection, processing options and capacity, setting standards for recycled materials, and promoting 'green' procurement.

DEFRA's Waste Implementation Development Programme (WIDP) was established to accelerate the building of the infrastructure needed to treat residual waste without compromising efforts to minimise waste and increase recycling. Only a combination of these activities will allow us to meet our obligations for biodegradable municipal waste under the Landfill Directive. A number of demonstrator projects are being funded through WIDP to increase processing capacity and increase availability of infrastructure able to process biodegradable waste. We expect that further investment by private companies in reprocessing technologies will follow.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what (a) weight and (b) volume of all household waste was diverted to landfill in each of the last five years. (106403)

[holding answer 30 November 2006]: Waste is measured by weight rather than by volume. Tonnages of municipal waste sent to landfill in each of the last five years for which statistics are available are provided in the following table:

Municipal waste includes household waste and any other wastes collected by a Waste Collection Authority, or its agents.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when the Revised Waste Strategy will be published; and what he expects the role of waste minimisation to be in the strategy. (106404)

[holding answer 30 November 2006]: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 16 October 2006, Official Report, column 910W.

As it lessens waste production from the outset, waste minimisation is top of the waste hierarchy. The consultation on the Waste Strategy Review carried out earlier this year put forward proposals on the role of waste minimisation and prevention in England. The consultation document is available from the DEFRA website:

http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/wastestratreview/review-consult.pdf.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many tonnes of household waste intended for landfill were exported to countries in (a) the EU and (b) developing countries in the last year for which figures are available; and what the cost was of such exports. (106405)

[holding answer 30 November 2006]: It is illegal to export waste from the UK to other countries other than for its reuse or for recycling. Landfill is a disposal operation, and waste may not be exported from the UK for this purpose.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what percentage of household rubbish in each region is recycled in the last period for which figures are available. (107013)

The percentage of household waste, which was recycled or composted in each English region in 2005-06, is provided in the table as follows.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much the Government gave to local authorities to help with recycling schemes in each of the last three years. (107014)

I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Meriden (Mrs. Spelman) on 1 November 2006, Official Report, column 464W.