Departmental Recycling

Mr. Paice
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the (a) volume and (b) percentage of waste from his Department which was recycled in (i) 2006-07 and (ii) 2007-08.

Huw Irranca-Davies
I can confirm that the actual volume and percentage of waste recycled or recovered by DEFRA, during years 2006-07 and 2007-08 are presented in the table.

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|                                                                                                                                                                       |2006-07|2007-08|
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|Waste recycled1 (tonnes)                                                                                                                                               |1,393  |1,411  |
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|Percentage recycled                                                                                                                                                    |27     |29     |
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|Waste recovered2 (tonnes)                                                                                                                                              |2,891  |2,877  |
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|Percentage recovered                                                                                                                                                   |55     |60     |
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|1 Recycled—waste that is recycled, reused externally or composted.2 Recovered—waste that is recycled, reused externally, composted or incinerated with energy recovery.|       |       |
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It should be noted that DEFRA incinerates approximately 30 per cent. of its waste, from which significant quantity of heat and energy is recovered. Current Sustainable Development Commission reporting does not acknowledge energy recovery from waste incineration as recycling or waste recovery under current Sustainable Operations on the Government Estate (SOGE) guidelines.