The UK only recovered 47.9% of packaging instead of the 50% target figure required. This totalled 4,462,240 tonnes, a shortfall of just under 200,000 tonnes out of a total packaging flow of 9,313,900.
Environment Minister Michael Meacher commented that other European states “began focusing on packaging waste recovery/recycling in the early 1990s. A number of them have achieved much higher recovery/ recycling rates while others remain close to or just above the UK rate.”
The written answer noted that latest published figures for the EU are for 1998 and show the UK then had the lowest EU recovery rate at 33%.
It would seem unlikely that the UK will face prosecution over the targets. The government is expected to argue that good progress is being made. In 1998 3.38 million tonnes was recovered and this rose to 4.46 million last year.
Malcolm Bruce MP asked Mr Meacher why the government was so slow in publishing targets for 2002. The minister said: “We make every effort to publish the annual targets for recovery and recycling of packaging waste as early in the year as possible. Businesses have an opportunity to plan on the basis of the proposals and analysis in the consultation exercise carried out in the previous year. However, where the Government do not have the latest relevant packaging data until the end of a year, this means that it is not always possible to decide on the final targets for the following year to our intended timing.”
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