Food Waste to Energy

As my hon. Friend the Member for Bridgend (Mrs. Moon) acknowledges, the timeliness of the debate is extraordinary, given that yesterday the Government’s planning White Paper was published—she raised a number of planning issues in connection with the company in her constituency—that tomorrow we will see the long-awaited energy White Paper, and that on Thursday the new waste strategy will be published. I hope that, if she is able to, she will be present in the main Chamber to listen with interest to what my right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and for Trade and Industry have to say on those two policy areas, on which we have not yet made announcements. That puts me in a slightly difficult position, because if my hon. Friend’s debate had taken place a week later—rather, two weeks later, because of next week’s recess—I might have been able to say more on the issue. However, given the timing of her debate, she can perhaps claim some of the credit for the announcements when they come later this week. I hope that she and other Members who take a close interest in these very important issues will be encouraged by what the Government propose to announce. I congratulate my hon. Friend on championing not only a very good local firm in Bridgend as the constituency MP, but the whole issue of our environmental sustainability, of our management of waste in particular, and of the potential for generating renewable energy from waste streams. I also pay tribute to the work that she is doing in trying to persuade this place to be a bit greener, which is a very worthy cause. I always think that when we are trying to persuade the country to do better on the environment, it is important that we can lead by example. My hon. Friend is right to portray the challenge that we face. According to our latest figures, about 17 per cent. of municipal solid waste is waste food. It was estimated in a recent report that, on average, each person in this country wastes more than £400-worth of food every year—quite a scandalous figure, in my view. Our first priority, of course, should be to prevent as much as possible of that waste from being produced. We shall announce measures on waste prevention in the waste strategy on Thursday. Also and as my hon. Friend acknowledged, my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer in his most recent Budget announced a substantial increase in the landfill tax escalator, which acts as one of the main incentives for businesses and local authorities to divert waste from landfill. I hope that that will help companies such as Inetec, in my hon. Friend’s constituency. There is a variety of ways in which food waste could be put to much better use. My hon. Friend has described very well the work that Inetec does in her constituency. If that company has not yet had the opportunity to talk through some of these issues with people from either my Department or, as it is largely a devolved issue, the Welsh Assembly, I would be happy for it to talk to my officials about what potential there may be for the company across the UK more widely.