| Allan Wilson:
I will do my
best. I start with the caveat that in seven minutes I cannot cover all
the points that have been raised, but I am happy to visit projects wherever
they be - in Midlothian, Dundee or elsewhere—to see for myself. There is
no monopoly of wisdom within the Scottish Executive on waste management
policy and procedure. I am happy to learn, as is my colleague Ross Finnie,
of successful recycling schemes and to roll those out as best practice.
Two themes have
emerged, which I would like to stress: progress and partnership. Contrary
to the previous speech, the Executive has a thorough grip on the waste
issue and is delivering incremental progress. I think that Bruce Crawford
admitted as much in his contribution, if grudgingly.
The Executive
delivered a national waste strategy in 1999, as promised in the first programme
for government. We have established the strategic waste fund to help local
authorities implement their plans. Eleven draft area waste plans are now
available, and the national plan, which is awaiting ministerial approval,
will come out later this year.
I will respond
to the requests of Robin Harper and other members for further debating
opportunity. We welcome that. We want to debate progress towards our targets.
Bruce Crawford:
Could the minister tell me how many deadlines
were set for the production of area waste plans?
Allan Wilson:
The point that I am making, which I hope will
be appreciated throughout the chamber—even if not by Bruce Crawford—is
that we are making progress towards the delivery of our national waste
plan and our national strategy. That is delivering progress, which I think
is accepted out with the chamber, if not by the nationalists.
Fiona McLeod:
Will the minister give way?
Allan Wilson:
I cannot allow myself to be diverted from
the important issues that other members have raised to chase the nationalists'
red herrings.
I emphasise
the partnership element in the work that we are discussing. The development
of the national waste strategy has been and is an inclusive process. Before
preparing the strategy, SEPA consulted widely. The area waste plan process
involved a wide range of stakeholders in decision making. I welcome the
contribution that members have made to that process. The Executive would
like important issues such as waste to be dealt with in that way. If we
are to improve our performance on waste, everybody must be involved.
Critically,
that means that the Westminster Administration must be involved. There
is no nation-state solution to this problem. Later I will deal with Northern
Ireland, to which Fiona McLeod referred. I refer members to the work that
we are doing on the end-of-life vehicles directive. The Executive will
shortly reduce the 71 days' notice that local authorities must give before
removing an abandoned vehicle. It is true that the UK has missed the transposition
deadline for the directive, but there is no nation-state solution to that
problem. If more rigorous controls were introduced in Scotland, Scotland
would simply become a depository for end-of-life vehicles from England.
We must work in partnership with the Westminster Government on that.
The same applies
to compulsory deposit schemes. Realistically, those can be implemented
only on a UK-wide basis. We must examine carefully the detail of any scheme
to ensure that it complies with UK standards [Interruption.]
The Deputy Presiding
Officer: There is too much chatter and burbling.
I ask members to keep the noise level down.
Allan Wilson:
The introduction of a plastic bag tax would
have implications for the UK as a whole. We are watching developments in
Ireland closely. I discuss with Michael Meacher and other ministers with
responsibility for the environment the prospects for greater efforts being
made in Scotland on that score. However, wholesale recycling cannot be
achieved overnight.
Dorothy-Grace
Elder (Glasgow) (Ind): Cattle incineration
has not been mentioned in the debate. Does the minister approve of cattle
being incinerated in the heavily populated east end of Glasgow? There is
officially a high risk that those cattle are infected with BSE, and there
have been 100 pollution incidents in 10 months. Will the minister urge
SEPA to stop allowing persistent offenders to reopen their facilities?
Will he declare against cattle being incinerated in Glasgow, the only city
on which that practice has been foisted?
Allan Wilson:
I have been in correspondence with Dorothy-Grace
Elder and with the constituency member for the east end of Glasgow, because
I share many of the concerns that have been expressed about the operation
of the incinerator to which she refers. I take on board the points that
the member makes and I have been in contact with SEPA about them. SEPA
will not renew licences or grant authorisation for incineration unless
it is convinced that appropriate environmental measures are being taken
to protect the health of the citizens of the east end of Glasgow. I would
expect nothing less from that organisation.
Several members
have mentioned Northern Ireland. The transport of waste within the UK is
perfectly legal. Waste is a commodity, like everything else.
Mr McGrigor:
Does the minister accept that in some island
communities the new standards for landfill sites may make burying waste
so expensive that it would be cheaper to export it by ferry, and that that
would be a daft solution to the problem?
Allan Wilson:
Yes. As I said, the transport of waste within
EU member states is perfectly legal. The Executive is committed to the
principle of proximity. The Northern Ireland Administration's waste management
strategy contains a similar commitment. I understand that the necessary
treatment and disposal capacity will become available once regional waste
plants have been established in Northern Ireland. There is a solution to
the problem that members have highlighted and progress is being made towards
achieving that.
John Scott and
other members mentioned the Alba proposals for major waste recycling centres.
The guidance on best environmental practice states that, if new proposals
are in force that have not been considered in an area waste plan, the developer
should carry out an assessment to show that its proposals are better. However,
when we integrate the area waste plans to produce the national plan, we
will also consider the potential for such schemes.
Bristow Muldoon
raised an important question about how local authorities will access the
strategic waste fund. Local authorities can already apply for access to
that fund. Indeed, some have already done so. However, as we must be sure
that the plans fit in with best environmental practice, we will need to
consider in each case whether the application must wait for the national
plan to be finalised.
The same principle
applies to the Executive's position on the pathfinder waste reduction schemes.
Bruce Crawford is simply wrong. In 2001-02, we distributed £3 million
to local authorities to fund pathfinder recycling schemes.
In the limited
time available, I am unable to deal with the many contributions that were
made during the debate, but I will be happy to take up Robin Harper's suggestion
that we return at a future date to debate the issue more thoroughly.
Let me conclude
on this note. It is right that waste is an issue about which we should
all be concerned. Waste is crucial to sustainable development and to environmental
justice. Dorothy-Grace Elder's point about landfill sites was well made.
Landfills tend to be sited nearest to those who are already disadvantaged.
There is a social justice element to the issue that we must include in
all our considerations.
That is why,
instead of the arbitrary targets that are promoted by the nationalists,
we have stressed that we need a defined process to identify the best environmental
option. I commend the motion to members on that basis.
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