Clause 1 - Target years

Part of Waste and Emissions Trading Bill [Lords] – in a Public Bill Committee at 9:30 am on 3 April 2003.

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Photo of Ms Sue Doughty Ms Sue Doughty Liberal Democrat, Guildford 9:30, 3 April 2003

May I join others in saying how much I am looking forward to the debate, and to working under your chairmanship, Mr. Amess?

I shall speak briefly because my hon. Friend the Member for Lewes (Norman Baker) has encapsulated many of our views. The issue of plastic bottles illustrates how we feel about waste management as a whole. The Bill is an important jigsaw piece in the conundrum of waste. Sometimes we work as though we do not know what the big picture is; we know the meaning of one piece of work but not of the rest.

I support the views that have been expressed about the volume as well as the weight of plastic, but how do we get the volume down? Councils have to do an enormous amount of work to find suitable ways of crushing bottles. None of them is particularly safe—one would not want one's children to go near the sites—so they are not implemented. Other things can be done to reduce plastic use. Many people drink water out of plastic bottles, which is barmy, given the high quality of our drinking water. We should be working with schools; some have begun to tell pupils to drink water instead of fizzy drinks, which is far better for them. What about the old-fashioned practice of providing a bottle or jug of chilled tap water? We seem to have lost all that.

The Bill does not entirely deal with that matter, nor should it. However, we face the problem of how to reduce the volume of waste that we produce. We should consider other options, such as dealing not only with packaging manufacturers but with behaviour, especially through education. I support the words of my colleagues, but I urge the Minister to consider how we might alter behaviour and steer it in other directions as part of a waste management strategy.