To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much plastic foam insulation containing ozone depleting substances has been treated with approved methods of gas recovery in the last 12 months. (260964)

Ozone depleting substances are recovered from insulation foams in refrigerators, freezers and other equipment in specialist facilities. A small amount of insulation foam arising as construction waste is also treated in some of these plants but the quantity is unknown.

Annual reports on the tonnages of all ozone depleting substances recovered in the UK, including refrigerant fluids and halons from fire extinguishers, are provided to the EU but the Environment Agency does not hold information on the amounts derived from individual sources. Data are not yet available for 2008.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many (a) enforcement notices have been issued and (b) prosecutions have been brought in respect of improper disposal of plastic foam insulation containing ozone depleting substances in each of the last three years. (260966)

The National Enforcement Database is the main recording system for data on enforcement actions carried out by the Environment Agency. The database does not provide specific information regarding offences relating to the disposal of plastic foam insulation.

The Environment Agency takes enforcement action where necessary against people who have operated illegal transfer stations, unlicensed landfills for construction/demolition waste and those who have fly-tipped this type of waste.