Simpler household recycling rules come into force across England
The scheme will work alongside Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging and the upcoming Deposit Return Scheme.
Households will now have a maximum of just four collections: food and garden waste, paper and card, dry recyclables like glass and plastic, and general rubbish.
Paper and card can be collected with other dry recyclable materials in certain circumstances, allowing local authorities flexibility to deliver services that work best for their communities.
To support some local authorities with area-specific delivery challenges, the government is providing additional support, such as agreed transitional arrangements allowing a later implementation date.
More than £78bln has been made available to councils in England this year, which includes funding for councils to roll out weekly food waste collections for all households. This is alongside £340mln to support councils as they prepare for the new collections.
Claire Shrewsbury, Director Insights and Innovation at NGO WRAP, comments, 'Simpler Recycling is the biggest shake-up in recycling policy in England in 20 years. Now, wherever you are you’ll have the same service at home, at work and when out and about.'
She continues, 'We’re a nation of recyclers, but most households put two or more items in the rubbish each week that could be recycled - because of confusion. Making recycling simpler will help end this and if we all recycled one more trigger spray each week, we’d save enough energy to power every home in Birmingham for a year.'
Circular Economy Minister Mary Creagh adds, 'We are ending the bin collections postcode lottery and making it easier for people to recycle wherever they live. Simplifying these rules will cut out carbon, clean up our streets, and help bring pride back into our communities. We will continue to work hand-in-hand with local areas to deliver these changes and ensure there’s more recycled content in the products we buy.'
Veolia UK anticipates collecting more than 40,000 additional tonnes of plastics alone. While Biffa announces the scheme has resulted in the firm creating 250 new frontline jobs.
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