Mrs Beckett retained her seat in Derby last Thursday leading to her being re-appointed late on Friday by Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Observers consider her to be a safe pair of hands during the government's presidency of Europe which begins next month.
A brief statement from Defra said: “The Prime Minister has announced that Margaret Beckett has been re-appointed as Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.”
Now confirmed, it is expected that Mrs Beckett will concentrate on one of her key goals for waste, to improve the data available for the industry.
In a speech to the Associate Parliamentary Sustainable Waste Group in January Mrs Beckett outlined areas which would be key to Labour's waste strategy.
She said: “One of the initiatives worth mentioning is our work to improve the data and research available to Government, local authorities and the waste industry in order to ensure that our policies, our strategic planning and our service delivery are based on the soundest evidence available.”
Defra has also announced that information on other Ministerial appointments will be made available in due course. One of the roles which will be closely watched by the industry will be that of the Environment minister, a role most recently held by Elliot Morley.
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