The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has this weekend promised to implement the changes, almost five years after they were first touted in the Resources & Waste Strategy (RWS), published in late 2018.
The Department is has outlined plans to put an end to the ‘postcode lottery’ for recycling from homes and businesses, by introducing a set list of materials that everyone across England will be able to place in their recycling bin.
These are metal, glass, paper, plastic and card. Dry recyclables will be collected together in one bin.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak stated last month that he had “scrapped” plans to introduce segregated dry recycling systems that would result in homes “having seven bins”.
The Government has since clarified that while it did explore segregated recycling as promised in the RWS, this would not have resulted in as many bins as seven, but this was apparently a common misconception that MPs were asked about.
The Industry Council for Packaging and the Environment (INCPEN) has stated that the changes should boost recycling rates which have, as it has been pointed out already this week, remained stagnant for several years.
Also in the pipeline are plans to ensure that all homes are served with regular food waste and garden waste collections. Food waste collections will be weekly by 2026 at the latest. Other waste collections should happen at least once a fortnight. Defra has stated that this change should allay the frustrations of communities currently dealing with bin collections every three to four weeks.
London has already implemented food waste collections from all homes. Food collected is either transformed into compost or used to generate energy. The UK Government has not yet clarified plans for processing food waste collected across newly-served areas once weekly collections are in place.
Environment Minister Rebecca Pow said: “Our ambitious plans will help every household, business, school and hospital in the country to recycle more. We have listened to councils and come up with a system that will increase recycling in a way that does not clutter our pavements with numerous bins and smelly food waste collections for weeks, making recycling simpler and more effective.
“This will help us to make the most of our finite and precious resources while reducing carbon emissions and protecting our precious environment from harmful waste.”
The Environment Act commits the UK to halving residual waste by 2042, against a 2019 baseline. Given that residual waste increase by 13% on a per capita basis between 2014 and 2019, the UK’s environment watchdog has recommended that Defra makes significant interventions to turn this trend around.
The Aldersgate Group is urging Defra to build on today’s announcement with more clarity on other parts of the RWS, including mandatory eco-design standards and extended producer responsibility scheme (EPR) reforms. EPR reform is already underway for packaging and has also been promised for products including mattresses and textiles.
“The Government should make resources and waste policy a cross-departmental priority: collaboration will be key to ensuring all sectors of the economy can reduce waste at the pace that is required,” said the business group’s executive director Rachel Solomon Williams.