BRITISH RECYCLING SHOULD NOT END UP IN CHINESE LANDFILL SITES - HUHNE

12.00.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Sun 21st Jan 2007

Research by the Liberal Democrats has revealed the massive growth in the amount of recycled material being sent to China from the UK since 1997, with 1,900,000 tonnes of plastics, paper, card and metals exported over the last year.

Reports suggest that rather than being used as a resource, many of these materials are simply ending up in illegal waste dumps, despite the fact that many of them include lead, which has the potential to enter water supplies and the food chain, causing damage to animal and human health.

Further research reveals how:

· Total municipal waste has gone up by 18% since 1997 to 28.7 million tonnes in 2005/06

· The total amount of municipal waste produced in England is growing at around 1.5% per annum

· Last year there was a total of 30.4 million tonnes of recycling collected from household, business and industry, with 6% (1.9 million tonnes) being sent to China

· 1.5 million tonnes of paper and card collected are sent to China - one tenth of all paper and card used in Britain

· The amount of recycling being sent to China has increased 158-fold since 1997

Commenting, Liberal Democrat Shadow Environment Secretary Chris Huhne MP said:

"People will be shocked that more and more of the newspapers, cans and plastic bottles they put out for recycling can end up in China.

"If reports are true that our recycling simply ends up in waste dumps rather than being used properly then this is an environmental disgrace. It is no good recycling more here in Britain if this simply ends up in a landfill site somewhere else.

"Labour should be looking to expand the UK's own recycling industry and make Britain become a leader in new green technology."