Asked by: Jeremy Corbyn (Independent - Islington North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment has been given to the (a) precautionary principle and (b) potential harmful effect on local residents’ health from the release of particulate fumes from incineration, when permission has been granted to build new incinerators.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
(a) The Environment Agency is responsible for issuing permits to allow new incinerators to operate in England. The Health Protection Agency’s (now the UK Health Security Agency or UKHSA) response to the 2005 British Society for Ecological Medicine report on the health effects of waste incinerators states “there are no grounds for adopting the ‘precautionary principle’ to restrict the introduction of new incinerators”. The Environment Agency consults UKHSA on every permit application it receives for a new incinerator and is satisfied that this advice remains appropriate.
(b) As part of the permitting process, the Environment Agency carries out a thorough environmental impact assessment of emissions from the proposed plant, including particulate matter, and strict emission limits are included in permits for particulate matter and other pollutants. The Environment Agency will not grant a permit if the proposed plant could give rise to any significant pollution of the environment or harm to human health.
Asked by: Jeremy Corbyn (Independent - Islington North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the amount of waste material imported from Europe burned in UK incinerators in each of the last five years.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Some waste is imported into the UK from the European Union (EU) for use in energy recovery; or in exceptional circumstances for disposal, such as when the UK can offer an environmentally sound solution for specialist waste not available in the country of dispatch.
The total volume of waste imported into the UK from the EU for recovery or disposal by incineration in the past five years, for which there is currently complete data[1], is presented in the table below. Defra does not hold information on a daily basis.
Year | Imports for recovery as a fuel (R1) from EU Member States (Tonnes) | Imports for disposal by incineration on land (D10) from EU Member States (Tonnes) | Total Imports for R1 and D10 from EU Member States (Tonnes) |
2019 | 10,046 | 1,999 | 12,044 |
2018 | 20,273 | 6,899 | 27,172 |
2017 | 20,105 | 7,978 | 28,083 |
2016 | 2,309 | 14,898 | 17,207 |
2015 | 3,302 | 10,813 | 14,115 |
Source: Basel Convention National Reporting
[1] Defra does not have complete data on waste imports for 2020 as the Basel Convention National Report is collated at the end of each year for the previous calendar year.
Asked by: Jeremy Corbyn (Independent - Islington North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the amount of waste material imported from Europe burned on a daily basis by in incinerators in the UK.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Some waste is imported into the UK from the European Union (EU) for use in energy recovery; or in exceptional circumstances for disposal, such as when the UK can offer an environmentally sound solution for specialist waste not available in the country of dispatch.
The total volume of waste imported into the UK from the EU for recovery or disposal by incineration in the past five years, for which there is currently complete data[1], is presented in the table below. Defra does not hold information on a daily basis.
Year | Imports for recovery as a fuel (R1) from EU Member States (Tonnes) | Imports for disposal by incineration on land (D10) from EU Member States (Tonnes) | Total Imports for R1 and D10 from EU Member States (Tonnes) |
2019 | 10,046 | 1,999 | 12,044 |
2018 | 20,273 | 6,899 | 27,172 |
2017 | 20,105 | 7,978 | 28,083 |
2016 | 2,309 | 14,898 | 17,207 |
2015 | 3,302 | 10,813 | 14,115 |
Source: Basel Convention National Reporting
[1] Defra does not have complete data on waste imports for 2020 as the Basel Convention National Report is collated at the end of each year for the previous calendar year.
Asked by: Jeremy Corbyn (Independent - Islington North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to increase the current capacity of incinerator waste being burned in the UK over the next 5 years.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
In line with the commitment in our Resources and Waste Strategy (RWS), officials are currently assessing planned incinerator capacity against expected future residual waste arisings so we can understand what future capacity may be required following implementation of key commitments in the RWS. This assessment of residual waste treatment capacity needs will be published in coming months.
Asked by: Jeremy Corbyn (Independent - Islington North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she has taken to ensure that animal products originating in Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory are not imported into the UK with sanitary or phytosanitary certification issued by the Israeli authorities; and when those steps were taken.
Answered by George Eustice
Products of animal origin (POAO) imported from third countries must have been produced to standards at least equivalent to those in the European Union (EU). The European Commission's Food and Veterinary Office is responsible for carrying out inspections in the third countries from which POAO is imported. POAO from third countries must:
· come from an approved country;
· come from an approved establishment/plant;
· be accompanied by appropriate animal and public health certification;
· enter the EU through a Border Inspection Post (BIP) where checks are carried out to ensure that import conditions have been met.
Israel is approved for a number of different categories of animal product. This approval is limited to Israel and does not include the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
Asked by: Jeremy Corbyn (Independent - Islington North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has agreed arrangements with the Israeli government to ensure that all animal products exported from Israel to the UK originate wholly within Israel and not from Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
Answered by George Eustice
This Department has had no discussions with Israel about accepting animal products from the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
The rules for the importation of animal products are laid down in European Union (EU) animal and public health legislation. Imports are only accepted from approved third countries. The decision to approve a third country is made at an EU level and is based on the animal and public health status of the country concerned.
Israel is approved for a number of different categories of animal product. This approval is limited to Israel and does not include the Occupied Palestinian Territories.