Vol. 531 No. 2
140 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the alterations made in technical specifications for disposal of construction and demolition waste; his plans to make regulations to require re-use and total diversion of such waste from dumps. [5376/01]
The Government's 1998 policy statement on waste management – Changing Our Ways – which has as its main aim a radical reduction in national reliance on landfill, recognised that the construction industry has the primary responsibility to ensure the environmentally sound management of construction and demolition waste. In the statement, the industry was challenged to treat construction and demolition waste as a resource and to take practical steps to ensure the recycling of at least 50% of such waste within five years, and at least 85% over a 15-year period. The industry was invited to devise and implement a coherent programme of voluntary measures, involving effective least-cost solutions to meet these national targets.
In response, a dedicated task force was established by the Forum for the Construction Industry to co-ordinate the development of a voluntary industry-wide programme to meet the proposed recovery targets. The task force is nearing the conclusion of its deliberations and I expect to receive substantive proposals for an action programme, involving a comprehensive matrix of measures and incorporating an implementation timetable, very shortly.
I will consider the necessity and possible scope of legislation in relation to the management of construction and demolition waste based on my evaluation of these proposals.
