Consultation on Consistency in Household and Business Recycling Collections in England

Closed 13 May 2019

Opened 18 Feb 2019

Overview

The Government supports comprehensive and frequent rubbish and recycling collections. We have seen household recycling rates in England increase significantly from 11% in 2001 to 45.2% in 2017.  However, in recent years, progress has been slower and rates have remained at around 44/45%.  While many local authorities continue to make improvements and introduce new services some have seen a drop in recycling rates and do not collect the full range of materials that can be recycled or do not collect food waste separately. Householders who want to recycle more are increasingly confused about what can be recycled. 

Plastic waste is one of the world’s most urgent environmental problems. Public awareness of plastics as an environmental concern has risen in recent years, and there's a large demand for better waste managment including better recycling.  Apart from Landfill Tax, which has incentivised diversion from landfill disposal and historically helped to increase recycling rates, there are very few current drivers to encourage local authorities to expand recycling services or for businesses to invest in recycling services. This makes it harder to improve the quantity and quality of what we recycle.

China’s ban in 2018 on the import of post-consumer contaminated plastic and paper has also added to the need to improve the quality of what is collected for recycling and to reduce contamination. Contamination arises from people putting items in their recycling bin that are not collected locally for recycling or materials which are not collected as part of dry recycling, such as nappies or food waste. Improving the quality of material collected would help to increase demand for these materials in the UK and help to ensure that they meet higher quality standards for export.

Members of the public, industry and other stakeholders have called for greater consistency in the materials collected for recycling as well as, to some extent, how it is collected. There have also been calls for investment in separate food waste collection to reduce the amount of food waste going to landfill, where it releases harmful greenhouse gases. 

Please note that this consultation will close at 23:59 on 13th May.

If you would like to keep in contact with us to express interest in this, or any other Defra consultation, please give us your details through the link below

https://gov.smartwebportal.co.uk/defra/public/webform.asp?id=108&id2=1D06F7

Audiences

  • Water/water Industry sector
  • Abattoir Operator
  • Aggregates sector
  • Agricultural Landlords
  • Agricultural Valuers
  • All Defra staff and ALBs
  • All Marine Users
  • Angling Organisations and Trade
  • Animal welfare campaigners
  • AWBs
  • Beach Users
  • Business/Private Sector
  • Charities/Voluntary Organisations
  • Coastal local authorities
  • Coastal Management sector
  • Coastal Members of Parliament
  • Commercial Fisheries Organisations
  • Consultants
  • Consumer Groups
  • Devolved Administrations
  • Electrical re-use organisations
  • Employment Agencies
  • Energy sector
  • Energy suppliers
  • Environmental campaigners
  • Environmental Health Officers
  • Environmental professional services
  • Estate Agents
  • Families
  • Farmers
  • Fisheries Producer Organisations
  • Fishermen
  • Fishing Focus individual recipients
  • Food Business Operators
  • Food Industry
  • Government Agencies
  • Government Departments
  • Horse riders
  • Horticulture Industry
  • House Building Industry
  • Households
  • IFCAs
  • Industries and professional services
  • Insurance industry
  • Land Agents
  • Landowners and their representative bodies
  • Legal and Conveyancing Professions
  • Leisure industry
  • Licensed Gangmasters
  • Livestock show ground operators
  • Local Authorities
  • Local Authorities
  • Manufacturers of livestock identifiers
  • Manufacturing Industry
  • Member of the General Public
  • National Park Authorities
  • Non-Government Organisation
  • Non-Household Customers
  • Operators of animal gatherings
  • Pet Carriers
  • Pet Interest Groups
  • Pet Owners
  • Policy Teams
  • Ports and Harbour Authorities and Estuaries
  • Producer Compliance Schemes
  • Professional and Membership Organisations/Agencies
  • Property Management
  • Public Bodies
  • Recreation sector
  • Retail Industry
  • Shellfish Cultivators
  • SME businesses
  • Stakeholders
  • Students
  • Tenant Farmers
  • Tourism industry
  • Trade Unions
  • Trading Standards Officers
  • Transport Organisations
  • Veterinarians
  • Vets
  • Walkers
  • Waste Management Companies
  • Waste Producers and Handlers
  • Water Abstractors
  • Water suppliers
  • WEEE Treatment Facilities

Interests

  • Air pollution
  • Air quality
  • Chemicals and pesticides
  • Climate change
  • Food labelling
  • Food standards
  • Genetic Modification (GM)
  • Green infrastructure
  • Local environments
  • Local nature partnerships
  • Marine
  • Marine Conservation Zones
  • Natural environment
  • Ozone
  • Retailers
  • Sewerage
  • Waste and recycling