To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what his Department’s policy is on the use of commingled collections of household waste. (217845)

Decisions on the best method for collecting waste and recyclables are a matter for local authorities, not DEFRA.

DEFRA policy is that local authorities should decide how to discharge their responsibilities for waste management and recycling in the light of their local circumstances and the evidence which is available on the strengths and weaknesses of different arrangements.

The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) has published evidence on the relative costs of different systems for collecting waste. WRAP’s research concluded that, in current market conditions, kerbside sort systems were likely to show lower overall recycling costs for the local authority than co-mingled collections. However, it also recognised that for some local authorities, especially in highly urban areas, co-mingled collections may be more practical.

WRAP is also studying the management of recycling in Materials Recovery Facilities to see how the resulting material can be improved in quality so that it is suitable for use in high value applications.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what guidance (a) his Department and (b) the Waste and Resources Action Programme has provided to waste collection authorities on the use of separate individual bins for food, glass, paper, plastic and residual waste. (217848)

The Government funded Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) published a guidance document for local authorities, dealing with Alternate Weekly Collection of household waste, in July 2007. This guidance document includes a discussion of the issues that a local authority may wish to consider, including the type of collection system to be used for the material put out for recycling. However, the guidance document does not recommend any particular collection methods as being better than any other.