www.parliament.uk/commons-library | intranet.parliament.uk/commons-library | papers@parliament.uk | @commonslibrary

BRIEFING PAPER Number CBP 7285, 24 October 2016

Household recycling in the UK

By Sara Priestley

Inside: 1. Overview of recycling in the UK 2. A circular economy 3. Legislation 4. Recycling policy across the UK 5. Increasing the household

recycling rate 6. Parliamentary scrutiny 7. Possible impact of Brexit

Number CBP 7285, 24 October 2016 2

Contents Summary 4

1. Overview of recycling in the UK 5 1.1 UK trends: household recycling 5

England 6 Wales 6 Scotland 7 Northern Ireland 9

1.2 Comparing recycling rates: a health warning 9 1.3 UK trends: construction and demolition recycling rates 10

2. A circular economy 11 2.1 Previous proposals 11 2.2 Current proposals 12

Europe 12 UK response 13 Progress in 2016 14

3. Legislation 15 3.1 EU Waste Framework Directive 15

Waste management hierarchy 15 Prevention 16 Re-use 16 Recycling 17

3.2 EU Packaging Directive 19 3.3 EU Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive 19

UK WEEE 20

4. Recycling policy across the UK 21 4.1 England 21 4.2 Wales 22 4.3 Scotland 23 4.4 Northern Ireland 24

5. Increasing the household recycling rate 25 5.1 Local authority performance 25 5.2 Barriers to increasing the recycling rate 25 5.3 Local authority approaches 26

Rewards and recognition 26 Separate garden and food waste collections 27 Communication campaigns 28

5.4 Waste and Resources Action Programme: resources and campaigns 29 WRAP funding 29

Cover page image copyright: Recycle Bottles and Cans AD (HDR) by Desmond Talkington. Licensed under CC by 2.0 / image cropped.

3 Household recycling in the UK

A framework for greater consistency in household recycling 30 National recycling guidelines 30

6. Parliamentary scrutiny 32 6.1 Select Committee Reports and Inquiries 32 6.2 Other Parliamentary scrutiny 33

7. Possible impact of Brexit 35 7.1 Parliamentary debate and commentary 36 7.2 Commentary from the waste industry and professionals 38

Number CBP 7285, 24 October 2016 4

Summary The UK is required to meet an EU target of recycling a minimum of 50% (by weight) of its household waste by 2020. Recycling rates have increased markedly since 2000 but concerns have been raised in recent years that household recycling rates have started to plateau.

Waste policy is devolved. Wales is the only nation within the UK to have already met the 50% requirement, reporting a household recycling rate of 60.2% in 2015/16. England, Scotland and Northern Ireland all have household recycling rates between 42-45%. In 2014, the UK as a whole reported a household recycling rate of 44.9%.

Defra’s policy is to move towards a zero waste economy in England, where we reduce, reuse and recycle all we can. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have equivalent zero waste policies, but each has diverged in terms of specific targets and approaches. Wales is the only administration in the UK to have introduced statutory targets for municipal waste recycling which must be met by local authorities.

A number of barriers to increasing the recycling rate have been identified, including:

• Losing value in households: only 42% of England’s household waste is segregated at source as recyclables, which is significantly lower than levels achieved in the best performing European countries.

• Poor material capture: local authorities only provide a limited proportion of households with collection systems for the major recyclables.

• Housing mix and multi-occupancy dwellings: recycling rates are falling in areas where there is an increase in multi-occupancy dwellings. Rates also tend to be lower where there are challenges with social deprivation, urban classifications, education, language and residential stability.

• Weaker policy levers: high performers in the EU use stronger incentives such as ‘pay-as-you-throw’ schemes where householders are charged for having non-recyclable waste collected; and landfill/incineration restrictions for some materials.1

In order to help increase household recycling rates, in September 2016, WRAP published a voluntary framework for greater consistency in household recycling and the first National Recycling Guidelines were published by WRAP in October 2016.

The European Commission adopted a circular economy package in December 2015, which includes new legislative proposals on waste targets (including recycling). Defra is currently considering the specific proposals but has indicated that it wants to make sure that the proposals allow flexibility and to ensure that costs are justified by expected impacts and avoid unnecessary burdens on business. The UK Government is not supportive of specific targets: it has suggested that targets should only be proposed when there is clear and robust evidence of their social and economic benefits to the EU and Member States.

A discussion of the possible impact of Brexit on recycling policy and the circular economy proposals is included in Section 7 of this paper.

1 SUEZ At this rate…exploring England’s recycling challenges 15 September 2015 [accessed 17 September 2015]

5 Household recycling in the UK

1. Overview of recycling in the UK 1.1 UK trends: household recycling

According to Defra’s report on UK statistics on waste (published 25 August 2016),2 the UK as a whole achieved a recycling rate of ‘waste from households’ of 44.9% in 2014 compared to 40.4% in 2010. The relevant breakdowns reported by Defra are set out in Table 1 and 2 below.

Table 1.

Source: Defra, UK statistics on waste, 25 August 2016

Table 2.

2 Defra, UK statistics on waste, 25 August 2016 [accessed 24 October 2016]

The UK achieved a recycling rate of ‘waste from households’ of 44.9% in 2014.

Number CBP 7285, 24 October 2016 6

Source: Defra, UK statistics on waste, 25 August 2016

England England reported a household recycling rate of 44.2% in 20133 and 44.8% in 2014 – measuring ‘waste from households’.4 England has improved its recycling rate by more than three times since 2000.5 However, in recent years, the rate of increase has started to slow, as shown in Table 3 below.

Table 3.

Source: Defra, statistics on waste managed by local authorities in England in 2014-15, 1 December 2015

Wales Wales reported a household recycling rate of 54.3% in 2013/146; 56.2% in 2014/157; and 60.2% in 2015/168 – measuring all local authority collected municipal waste. Table 4 below shows the percentage of local authority waste prepared for reuse, recycling or composting from 2000/01 in Wales, broken down by municipal waste, household waste and non-household waste. It shows a steady increase in recycling rates since 2000. The Welsh Government statistics report all local authority collected municipal waste.

3 Defra, Statistics on waste managed by local authorities in England in 2013-14, 18

November 2014 [accessed 18 August 2015] 4 Defra, Statistics on waste managed by local authorities in England in 2014-15, 1

December 2015 [accessed 24 February 2016] 5 Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, Waste management in England,

Fourth Report of Session 2014-15, HC 241, 22 October 2014, para 23 6 StatsWales, Reuse/recycling/composting rates by local authority and year, January

2015 [accessed 18 August 2015] 7 Welsh Government, Local authority municipal waste management report for Wales,

2014-15, 8 October 2015 [accessed 24 October 2016] 8 Welsh Government, Local authority municipal waste management report for Wales,

2015-16, 6 October 2016 [accessed 24 October 2016]

England reported a household recycling rate of 44.8% in 2014.

Wales reported a household recycling rate of 60.2% in 2015/16

7 Household recycling in the UK

Table 4. Percentage of local authority municipal waste prepared for reuse, recycled or composted in Wales

Source: Welsh Government, Local authority municipal waste management report for Wales, 2015-16, 6 October 2016, Chart 1

Scotland Scotland reported a household recycling rate of 42.2% in 2013 – measuring ‘waste from households’9 and using a new calculation method10 for the 2014 calendar year, it was 42.8%11 and for the 2015 calendar year it was 44.2%.12

In 2013 it was reported that recycling rates in Scotland had risen by more than 900% since 2000. This is reflected in Table 5 below.

9 SEPA, Household waste WasteDataFlow data 2013, [accessed 18 August 2015] 10 For 2014, household waste composted and diverted from landfill that did not reach

the quality standards met by PAS 100 or PAS 110 has not been included in recycling figures. If it was, the 2014 rate would have been 43.6%.

11 SEPA, Household waste WasteDataFlow data 2014 [accessed 24 February 2016] 12 SEPA, Household waste—Summary data 2015 [accessed 24 October 2016]

Scotland reported a household recycling rate of 44.2% in 2015.

Number CBP 7285, 24 October 2016 8

Table 5

Source: MRW, Scottish recycling rate hits 41%, 28 August 2013

Table 6 shows the recycling rate under the old method of calculation between 2011 and 2015; and the recycling rate under the new method of calculation in 2014 and 2015.

Table 6

Source: SEPA, Household waste—Summary data 2015, Figure 2

9 Household recycling in the UK

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland reported a household recycling rate of 41.3% in 2013/1413 and 42.0% in 2014/15 – measuring all household waste sent for recycling.14 In January 2015 it was reported that data for the second quarter of 2014/15 showed that household recycling rates had stalled in Northern Ireland for the first time since 2009/10.15 Finalised data for 2015/16 annual rates is expected to be published on 1 December 2016.16

1.2 Comparing recycling rates: a health warning

There is no standard way to measure household recycling rates which means that making direct comparisons (within the UK or across the EU) can be misleading. Each local authority across the UK must enter data in accordance with the relevant national guidance, as set out on WasteDataFlow.

In relation to meeting the Waste Framework Directive recycling targets, Commission Decision 2011/753/EU allows a choice of four options and calculation methods. Each Member State must use the calculation method that corresponds to the re-use and recycling option that it has chosen to apply the target to. The UK currently applies the target to the third option: “the preparation for reuse and the recycling of household waste”. This means that the UK must use calculation method 3 set out in the Decision and use national data to report on the recycled amount of household waste.

Calculation method 3:

Recycling rate of household waste in % =

Recycled amount of household waste ÷

Total household waste amounts excluding certain waste categories17

In order to provide a harmonised UK indicator with a comparable calculation in each of the four national authorities, Defra introduced the “waste from households” calculation in May 2014. This approach aims to provide a harmonised UK indicator with a comparable calculation in each of the four national authorities and to provide a consistent

13 Northern Ireland Local Authority Collected Municipal Waste Management Statistics,

Annual Report 2013/14, 27 November 2014, p27 – figures for household waste recycling [accessed 18 August 2015]

14 Northern Ireland Local Authority Collected Municipal Waste Management Statistics, Annual Report 2014/15, 26 November 2015, p17 [accessed 24 February 2016]

15 Resource, Household recycling rates stall in Northern Ireland, 22 January 2015 [accessed 4 September 2015]

16 See: Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, Northern Ireland Local Authority Collected Municipal Waste Management Statistics, Quarterly provisional estimates for January to March 2016, 28 July 2016 [accessed 24 October 2016]

17 See Annex 1 of Commission Decision 2011/753/EU for more information

Northern Ireland reported a household recycling rate of 42.0% in 2014/15

Number CBP 7285, 24 October 2016 10

approach to report recycling rates at a UK level on a calendar year basis.18

National authorities in the UK have previously had a varied approach to measuring household recycling rates. For example, before May 2014, English data measured all local authority collected waste (i.e. including waste types not considered to have come directly from households, such as street bins, street sweepings, parks and grounds waste and compost like output) and was reported on a financial year basis. Scottish data also measured all local authority collected waste up until 2012/13; Wales still measures all local authority collected waste.

1.3 UK trends: construction and demolition recycling rates

According to Defra’s report on UK statistics on waste (August 2016),19 the UK as a whole achieved a recovery rate of 86.5% for non-hazardous construction and demolition waste in 2012. Table 6 shows the Recovery Rate from Non-Hazardous Construction and Demolition Waste, UK and England, 2010-12.

Table 6.

UK England

Generation (000 tonnes)

Recovery (000 tonnes)

Recovery rate (%)

Generation (000 tonnes)

Recovery (000 tonnes)

Recovery rate (%)

2010 45,419 39,129 86.2% 39,832 35,480 89.1%

2011 47,067 40,622 86.3% 41,152 36,754 89.3%

2012 44,786 38,759 86.5% 38,938 34,714 89.2%

Source: Defra, UK statistics on waste, 25 August 2016

18 Defra, Statistics on waste managed by local authorities in England in 2013-14, 18

November 2014 [accessed 18 August 2015] 19 Defra, UK statistics on waste, 25 August 2016 [accessed 24 October 2016]

The UK reported a recovery rate of 86.5% for construction and demolition waste in 2012.

11 Household recycling in the UK

2. A circular economy A circular economy means re-using, repairing, refurbishing and recycling existing materials and products and regarding waste as something that can be turned into a resource. It maximises the value of resources in order to benefit both the economy and the environment. This is in contrast to a linear “take-make-consume-dispose” model which assumes that resources are abundant, available and cheap to dispose of.

The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) estimated that in 2010, the UK economy was 22% ‘circular’. It estimates that by 2030, the UK economy’s circularity could increase to 27% whilst also benefitting from a reduction in materials consumption of 30 million tonnes a year.20 The WRAP and Green Alliance Employment and the Circular Economy estimates that over 210,000 new jobs could be needed across the UK which could rise to about half a million if the circular economy agenda receives significant development.

In relation to economic benefits, the Environmental Services Association suggests that a more circular economy could increase UK GDP by £3 billion a year;21 a study for Government in 2011 indicated that there were £18 billion of financial benefits from low/no cost improvements available to businesses in the UK;22 McKinsey estimates that the global value of resource efficiency could eventually reach $3.7 trillion per year.23

2.1 Previous proposals The European Commission undertook a waste target policy review in 2013. The Communication Towards a circular economy: zero waste programme for Europe and the related legislative proposal (July 2014) identified waste policy and targets as key drivers for shifting to a circular economy. As part of its circular economy package, the Commission proposed to increase recycling targets to 70% by 2030; and proposed to ban the landfilling of recyclable waste (plastics, metals, glass, paper and cardboard and biodegradable waste) with the objective to move towards virtual elimination of landfilling municipal waste by 2030.24

20 House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee, Growing a circular economy:

Ending the throwaway society, Third Report of Session 2014-15, HC 214, 24 July 2014, para 8 [accessed 18 August 2015]

21 Environmental Services Association, Going for Growth: A practical route to a Circular Economy, June 2013 [accessed 18 August 2015]

22 Oakdene Hollins, The further benefits of business resource efficiency, March 2011 [accessed 24 August 2015]

23 WRAP, Vision for the UK circular economy to 2020, archived 15 September 2015 [accessed 16 September 2015]

24 European Commission Memo, Questions and answers on the Commission Communication “Towards a Circular Economy” and the Waste Targets Review, 2 July 2014 [accessed 18 August 2015]

In 2010, WRAP estimated that the UK economy is about 22% ‘circular’.

Number CBP 7285, 24 October 2016 12

In June 2014 the previous European Environment Commissioner, Janez Potočnik, told the Environmental Audit Committee that increasing levels of consumption in developing countries will put ever more increasing pressure on resources:

In one generation, we will have on the planet an additional 2 billion people, which is more than the overall population at the beginning of the 20th century, when it was 1.5 billion. That is more than 200,000 per day.… McKinsey estimates that, by 2030, 3 billion people who are currently living in poverty will join the middle-class level of consumption. If you take into account that, all in all, that would mean that we would need something like three times more resources than we use today in 2050—70% more of food, feed and fibre in 2050—we would likely be around 40% short of drinking water in 2030. If we take into account that already today we are using approximately 60% of our ecosystems in pretty much unsustainable ways that makes a pretty simple conclusion: how we produce, consume and live will have to be changed.25

Following the appointment of a new Commission in 2015 headed by President Jean-Claude Juncker, the new Commission announced its intention to withdraw the proposal in its 2015 Work Programme and the withdrawal was finalised on 25 February 2015.26

2.2 Current proposals Europe The Commission adopted a new Circular Economy Package on 2 December 2015. It consists of:

• an EU Action Plan; • a timetable setting out when the actions will be completed; and • a number of legislative proposals on waste, packaging waste,

landfill and electrical and electronic waste.

In relation to recycling, the revised legislative proposals include simplified definitions and harmonised calculations methods for recycling rates throughout the EU; and increases the recycling target for municipal waste to 60% by weight by 2025 and 65% by weight by 2030. Separate targets for recycling packaging waste to 65% by 2025 and 75% by 2030 (with specific targets for certain packaging materials such as plastic, wood, glass, paper and cardboard) are also included. More information is set out in the Library Briefing page on the EU Circular Economy Package.

25 Environmental Audit Committee, Oral evidence: Growing a circular economy, HC

214, 11 June 2014, Q198 26 European Commission, Circular Economy Strategy, April 2015 [accessed 24 August

2015]

13 Household recycling in the UK

For an outline of the potential benefits of, and challenges to, creating a circular economy, please refer to the POSTNote on Designing a Circular Economy.27

UK response On 22 July 2015, Defra deposited papers on Modernising waste policy: valuing waste as a resource and UK ideas for a new Circular Economy package which were submitted to the European Commission on behalf of the UK Government. The papers set out some ideas to stimulate discussion and to offer suggestions for further consideration by the Commission in relation to the new circular economy proposals.

Some key proposals and thoughts from Defra on the recycling aspects of the Circular Economy package included:

• Barriers to recycling: calling for actions to overcome barriers to recycling and re-use (including how waste is defined and regulated);

• Targets: suggesting that targets should only be proposed when there is clear and robust evidence of their net social and economic benefits to the EU and Member States. If targets relating to the management of materials once they become waste are considered necessary, these should work together and avoid duplication, complexity, and incentivising unintended outcomes; and

• Incentives: calling for the Commission to examine opportunities to allow Member States to incentivise greater repair, reuse, remanufacturing and recyclability and recycled content in specified products, product design and remanufacture.

The UK Government’s response to European Commission consultations on the circular economy and the functioning of waste markets were published on 11 November 201528 and provide further information on the UK Government’s position on these proposals.

Following the adoption of the new package by the EU Commission on 2 December 2015, the Cabinet Office published Explanatory Memoranda on the European Documents (14972/15) and proposed legislation (14973/15) on 21 December 2015.

The Explanatory Memorandum to the Action Plan states that the UK Government wanted to:

make sure that the Commission proposals are developed with member states, allow flexibility, ensure that costs are justified by expected impacts, avoid unnecessary burdens on business, and create an environment that welcomes innovation, improves

27 POSTNote, Designing a Circular Economy, 26 September 2016 28 Defra, UK response to European Commission consultation of member states on the

circular economy, 11 November 2015 [accessed 16 November 2015]; and Defra, UK response to European Commission public consultation on the circular economy and on the functioning of waste markets, 11 November 2015 [accessed 16 November 2015]

Number CBP 7285, 24 October 2016 14

resource productivity and helps increase business competitiveness.

Progress in 2016 The following key events have occurred since December 2015:

• The UK attended the EU Environment Council on 4 March 2016 to take part in the debate on the EU action plan for the circular economy. A PQ response on 15 March confirmed that:

The UK highlighted work that had been done domestically, expressed support for elements of the Action Plan such as industrial symbiosis, and expressed overarching concerns for the proposed waste targets, stressing the need to pay close attention to the costs and benefits. These concerns were shared by Ireland, Lithuania and Portugal. Most Member States also sought reassurance that a joined up approach was being taken by the Commission.29

• The EU Action plan for the Circular Economy was debated by the UK House of Commons European Committee A on 7 March 2016.30

• The European Council adopted Conclusions on the Action plan for a circular economy on 20 June 2016.31

• The European Parliament’s Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) Committee will report on the legislative proposals. The Rapporteur is Simona Bonafe (S&D, Italy) and the ENVI Committee’s draft reports on each legislative proposals were published in June 2016. The draft report included calls for the European Commission to reinstate the municipal recycling target of 70% by 2030 (i.e. the higher target from the original Circular Economy proposals).32 Votes in the ENVI Committee are expected in November 2016. An EU Parliament Briefing (June 2016) provides more information and links to further resources.

For information regarding the approach to food waste in the new circular economy package, please refer to the Library Briefing paper on Food Waste.

For a discussion of the possible impact of the Brexit following the EU referendum vote in June 2016, please refer to Section 7 below.

29 PQ 30707 [on recycling: EU Action] 15 March 2016 30 European Committee A, EU Action Plan for the Circular Economy, 7 March 2016 31 Council of the European Council, Draft Council conclusions of Closing the loop – an

EU action plan for the circular economy – adoption, 13 June 2016 [accessed 27 July 2016]

32 See: ENDSReport, MEPs press for higher recycling rates in circular economy package, 3 June 2016 [accessed 21 October 2016] [subscription needed]

15 Household recycling in the UK

3. Legislation 3.1 EU Waste Framework Directive

Current UK recycling policy is predominantly driven by the EU Waste Framework Directive (2008/98/EC) which provides the framework under which waste management policy is implemented throughout the EU. It also provides for ‘daughter Directives’ which deal with particular types of waste.

Although the Waste Framework Directive applies to the UK as a whole, waste is a devolved matter so the requirements are transposed into law in each UK national authority separately:

• In England and Wales the requirements are transposed through the Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2011.

• In Scotland the requirements are included in the Zero Waste Management Plan for Scotland, including by transposition through the Waste (Scotland) Regulations 2012.33

• In Northern Ireland the requirements are transposed through the Waste Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2011.34

Waste management hierarchy An overarching requirement of the EU Waste Framework Directive is that the UK applies the waste management hierarchy. This sets out the order of priority to apply to products and waste and shows that prevention and re-use options should be considered before recycling.35 This is in line with moving towards the aims of a circular economy. Table 7 below shows the waste hierarchy.

Table 7

Source: Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, Waste management in England Report

33 See SPICe briefing on the Waste (Scotland) Regulations 2012, 16 March 2012

[accessed 18 August 2015] 34 See Northern Ireland Waste Management Strategy, October 2013 35 EU Waste Framework Directive, Article 4

Number CBP 7285, 24 October 2016 16

Prevention The EU Waste Framework Directive (2008/98/EC) requires Member States to have established waste prevention programmes not later than 12 December 2013, and to review such programmes at least every 6 years.

Defra published a waste prevention strategy, Prevention is better than cure: the role of waste prevention in moving to a more resource efficient, circular economy, in December 2013 which sets out the Waste Prevention Programme for England in accordance with the requirements of the EU Waste Framework Directive (2008/98/EC).

Waste prevention focuses on actions taken before something becomes waste that reduce:

• the quantity of waste produced; • the adverse impacts of waste produced on the environment and

human health; or • the content of harmful substances in materials and products.

Re-use The Waste Framework Directive defines ‘Reuse’ as

any operation by which products or components that are not waste are used again for the same purposes for which they were conceived.

Reuse occurs at the end of a product’s ‘first life’ through a free exchange, a direct sale or via collection or disposal at a local household waste recycling centre in order to be used in a ‘second life’. Direct exchange between individuals or via a third party (for example, through a charity shop or eBay) falls within the definition of reuse. Examples of items commonly reused include: furniture, clothing, books, electrical items, CDs and DVDs.

WRAP is working towards helping the UK’s reuse sector to grow and has developed an online tool to show the benefits of increasing reuse. It is available on the WRAP website here. On its Partnerships are key to success in re-use page WRAP lists the following as benefits of reuse:

• Environmental: fewer products sent to landfill, saving 1.5 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent in 2012

• Third sector: benefits charities, social enterprises and other third sector organisation by an estimated £430 million annually;

• Jobs: around 11,000 FTE jobs were supported by reuse organisations in 2012 and volunteers in the sector accounted for a further 15,700 FTE jobs;

• Households: UK households benefitted by an estimated £6 billion from the re-use sector

17 Household recycling in the UK

Recycling The definition of recycling is set out in the EU Waste Framework Directive as:

any recovery operation by which waste materials are reprocessed into products, materials or substances whether for the original or other purposes. It includes the reprocessing of organic material but does not include energy recovery and the reprocessing into materials that are to be used as fuels or for backfilling operations.36

Under section 29(7) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, the Secretary of State may make regulations that set out what constitutes the treatment of waste for these purposes.

Household waste The Directive sets specific recycling targets and requires that Member States take the necessary measures designed to achieve the following targets in relation to household waste:

by 2020 the preparing for re-use and the recycling of waste materials such as at least paper, metal, plastic and glass from households and possibly from other origins as far as these waste streams are similar to waste from households, shall be increased to a minimum of overall 50 % by weight.37

‘Preparing for reuse’ is defined in the EU Waste Framework Directive as:

checking, cleaning or repairing operations by which products or components of products that have become waste are prepared so that they can be reused without any other pre-processing.38

Pursuant to section 45 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (as amended), it is the legal duty of each waste collection authority to collect most household waste in their area and they may also make arrangements to collect commercial and industrial waste from premises if so requested. The waste collection authority takes the lead in recycling operations by being required to make a recycling plan for the waste they collect39 and being required to separate certain waste for recycling from the waste disposal stream.

Collection systems The Directive requires Member States to take measures to promote high quality recycling and to set up separate collections of waste where technically, environmentally and economically practicable and appropriate to meet the necessary quality standards for the relevant

36 Article 3(17) 37 Article 11(2)(a) 38 Article 3(16) 39 Environmental Protection Act 1990 (as amended), section 49

The UK is required to recycle at least 50% of household waste (by weight) by 2020.

Number CBP 7285, 24 October 2016 18

recycling sectors.40 From 1 January 2015, the Waste (England and Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2012 have required public and private waste collectors to set up separate collections of waste for paper, plastic, metal and glass where necessary to ensure recovery operations and where technically, environmentally and economically practicable (TEEP). The Explanatory Memorandum to the Regulations confirms that “where such collection is not so necessary or not so practicable the duties relating to separate collection do not apply, and collection may accordingly be by other means”. This means that, in practice, commingled (or single-stream) collections may still exist but they are not viewed as a form of separate collection.41

The duty applies to commercial, industrial and household waste and has been put in place to ensure improvement in the quality of recyclate material produced by materials recovery facilities (MRFs). MRFs separate and prepare for onward reprocessing recyclable materials collected by local authorities.

Construction and demolition waste The Directive also requires that Member States take the necessary measures designed to achieve the following targets in relation to construction and demolition waste:

by 2020, the preparing for re-use, recycling and other material recovery, including backfilling operations using waste to substitute other materials, of non-hazardous construction and demolition waste excluding naturally occurring material defined in category 17 05 04 in the list of waste shall be increased to a minimum of 70 % by weight.42

Construction and demolition materials include the debris generated during the construction, renovation, and demolition of buildings, roads, and bridges and often contain bulky, heavy materials. Such materials include concrete, wood, metals, plastic, insulation, ceramic materials, glass and salvaged building components.

What happens if the UK fails to meet the recycling targets? The European Directive requirements are legally binding on all Member States. Fines for non-compliance are not automatic but follow a set process that is described in detail in a House of Commons Library Briefing Paper: How the EU fines Member States.43

40 See European Commission guidance (paragraphs 4.3.4 and 4.4) for more

information on the TEEP test [accessed 7 September 2015] 41 The UK Government initially took the view that commingled collections constituted a

form of separate collections. However, following judicial review, Defra and the Welsh Government accepted that this did not properly implement the requirements of the Waste Framework Directive and the Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2011 were amended by the Waste (England and Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2012.

42 Article 11(2)(b) 43 Library Briefing, How the EU fines Member States, SN/IA/3958

The UK is required to recycle at least 70% of construction and demolition waste (by weight) by 2020.

19 Household recycling in the UK

The UK remains bound by all EU requirements until a date of formal exit from the EU.

3.2 EU Packaging Directive In addition to the recycling targets set out in the EU Waste Framework Directive, the UK has a separate statutory producer responsibility regime for packaging, covering the whole of the supply chain from the raw material to the finished packaging. Packaging is any material used to hold, protect, handle, deliver or present goods.

The EU Directive on Packaging and Packaging Waste (94/62/EC) is implemented in Great Britain by the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulation 2007 (as amended) and the Packaging (Essential Requirements) (Amendment) Regulations 2013.

The regime places a legal obligation on businesses over a certain size which make or use packaging to ensure that a proportion of the packaging they place on the market is recovered and recycled. Relevant businesses discharge their responsibilities by collecting evidence of waste packaging recycling and recovery equivalent to the weight of their obligations from accredited reprocessors and exporters. Packaging Recovery Notes (PRNs) or Packaging Export Recovery Notes (PERNs) are issued by accredited businesses and provide the evidence for compliance.

Full details on the current rules on packaging producer responsibilities is provided on the GOV.UK website here and is not reproduced in this note.

3.3 EU Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive

Separate EU policies exist for waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE). The first Directive on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (2002/96/EC) required manufactures to recover and recycle electrical and electronic equipment. The UK implemented the original WEEE Directive through the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations 2006 which came into force in January 2007.

In August 2012, a new recast WEEE Directive (2012/19/EU) entered into force and the UK implemented the recast WEEE Directive through the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations 2013 which came into force in January 2014. Government guidance notes on the 2013 Regulations are also available.

From 1 January 2014, photovoltaic panels came into the scope of WEEE Regulations for the first time. From 15 August 2018 the scope will be widened to include all EEE unless specifically exempted or excluded.

Number CBP 7285, 24 October 2016 20

UK WEEE In its first six months (July to December 2007) 7 kg per person of WEEE was collected in the UK. By 2011, around 8 kilograms of WEEE per person per year was collected (roughly twice the original target). According to Environment Agency data, the amount of WEEE recycling in the UK fell for a second year in a row in 2013 (to 7.76 kg per person), but a 2014 ENDS Report states that the UK is still on-track to meet the EU target by 2016.

On 7 September 2015 the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills announced a £775,000 fund for local councils to boost the rates of collection, re-use and recycling of unwanted electrical items. The funding has been made available by retailers, suppliers and manufacturers of electrical equipment as part of the Distributor Take-back Scheme and the WEEE Compliance Fee. Business Minister Anna Soubry said:

We have around £1bn worth of electrical equipment in our homes which we no longer use but which still has real value. This business-led fund can help drive up levels of collection, re-use and recycling of unwanted electrical equipment. The fund will also help divert electrical waste from landfill and reduce waste by promoting the re-use of electrical appliances.44

By August 2015, 70 organisations from across the UK electricals sector had signed up to the voluntary Electrical and Electronic Equipment Sustainability Action Plan (esap) which seeks to catalyse sector action. It aims to take specific actions across five different themes, including gaining greater value from re-use and recycling; and understanding and influencing consumer behaviour on product durability and reparability. More information is available on WRAP’s webpage for esap here. Full details of the current rules on dealing with WEEE in the UK, including rules for manufacturers, importers and exporters can be found on the GOV.UK website here.

44 Department for Business, Innovation and Skills press release, £775,000 boost for re-

use and recycling of old electricals, 7 September 2015 [accessed 8 September 2015]

21 Household recycling in the UK

4. Recycling policy across the UK 4.1 England

Responsibility for different areas of waste policy is held across multiple Government departments, including Defra, DCLG, BEIS and HM Treasury. The Government’s policy is:

to move towards a ‘zero waste economy’. This doesn’t mean that no waste exists – it’s a society where resources are fully valued, financially and environmentally. It means we reduce, reuse and recycle all we can, and throw things away only as a last resort.45

The Government’s approach to waste policy is set out in the Government Review of Waste Policy in England 2011, published by Defra and setting out “a number of changes to policies and practices across the waste community to deliver long-term change”. Defra’s review of waste policy in England (2011) sets out 13 commitments to “set us on the path towards a zero waste economy.” A zero waste economy is slightly different from a circular economy: although, in theory, no waste is generated in each case. A progress report was published in 2012 which listed the various actions and timeframes which the Government was working towards.

More recently, Defra published its Waste Management Plan for England (Dec 2013), and the previous Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Water, Forestry, Rural Affairs and Resource Management, Dan Rogerson MP, wrote a letter to all stakeholders in the previous Parliament announcing that from April 2014 Defra would “step back” in areas where businesses are better placed to act and there is no clear market failure.

Defra sets out the following actions it is taking to make it easier for people and organisations to recycle more. The latest available policy information is for the 2010-15 Coalition Government and includes the following actions being taken by Defra:

• taking action to improve the quality of recycling collected from homes and businesses;

• taking action to create a stronger market for recycled materials; • consulting on changes to producer responsibility regulations

(feedback is currently being analysed); and • working with the waste industry through the waste management

responsibility deal (2011).

On 10 September 2015, a written answer confirmed that Defra does not plan to set local authority targets for recycling household waste.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department plans to implement the target to recycle 50 per cent of household waste by 2020 set in the EU

45 Defra, 2010 to 2015 government policy: waste and recycling, updated 8 May 2015

[accessed 24 August 2015]

Defra’s policy is to move towards a zero waste economy in England.

Number CBP 7285, 24 October 2016 22

Waste Framework Directive at a waste disposal authority or waste collection authority level (Tim Loughton)

Answered by: Rory Stewart

Defra has no plans to set recycling targets at a waste disposal or waste collection authority level. These targets are set at the UK level.46

In 2016, then Defra Minister (Rory Stewart) asked for a group of stakeholders to look into the benefits of having greater consistency in recycling collection systems between local authorities. A PQ response in June 2016 explained the UK Government’s approach:

The Government works with local authorities and the Waste and Recycling Action Programme (WRAP) to provide advice and promote best practice among local authorities on waste and recycling. The UK recycling rate has increased from 11% in 2000 to 44.9% in 2014. This progress is thanks in large part to the hard work of local authorities and householders to recycle more.

Greater consistency in local authority recycling – taking account of best practice – in particular has potential to increase recycling rates further. I have asked WRAP to work with an Advisory Group of waste stakeholders, to look at the benefits and opportunities from having greater consistency in the materials collected and collection systems to enable local authorities to recycle more, and to make it easier for householders to put the right materials in the right bin. This work will seek to improve the quality and quantity of materials recycled and to deliver value for money for local authorities. This not only includes opportunities for local authorities, but also what actions can be taken by waste producers and reprocessors to support greater consistency and increased recycling.47

WRAP published a Framework for greater consistency in household recycling in England in September 2016. See more in Section 5.4 below.

4.2 Wales Wales implemented an ambitious set of waste management policies in 2010 through their Towards Zero Waste strategy and achieved a local authority collected waste recycling rate of 60.2% in 2015/16. Wales is the only administration in the UK to have introduced statutory local authority recovery targets for waste recycling. The Welsh Assembly Government initially targeted the wastes collected by local authorities because of the high level of Government control over this waste stream. The Welsh Assembly Government has many policies in its waste strategy aiming towards increasing the quantities of waste recycled and the quality of the secondary materials produced as a result. Welsh policies are geared towards improving the use of

46 PQ 9229 [on Domestic Waste: Recycling] 7 September 2015 47 PQ 38978 [on Recycling] 8 June 2016

Wales is the only administration in the UK to have introduced statutory local authority recovery targets for waste recycling.

23 Household recycling in the UK

secondary raw materials within industry in Wales and to move towards a circular economy where all waste materials are used rather than disposed.

Towards Zero Waste sets the following targets for municipal waste collected by local authorities in Wales:

• a minimum of 70% of waste being reused, recycled or composted by 2024/25

• a maximum of 30% energy being created from waste by 2024/25 • a maximum of 5% of waste being landfilled by 2024/25 • Wales to achieve zero waste by 2050.

The recycling targets became law in Wales in April 2012 under the Waste (Wales) Measure 2010.

The Environment (Wales) Act 2016 became law in Wales on 21 March 2016. The Act covers a number of areas, including changes to waste management. It includes measure related to segregation of recyclable materials by businesses and the public sector; separate collection services; and a ban on recyclable materials being burnt for energy for waste. More information is available in the Welsh Government’s Factsheet (Waste).

4.3 Scotland The Scottish Government launched Scotland’s first Zero Waste Plan in June 2010, which sets out the Scottish Government’s vision for a zero waste society. The plan set out a number of new measures including introducing a 70% recycling target for all waste (regardless of its source) by 2025. The Zero Waste Plan also includes interim targets for ‘waste from households’ at 50% by 2013; and 60% by 2020.

As part of the Zero Waste Plan, the Waste (Scotland) Regulations 2012 came into effect in January 2014, which make it mandatory for food businesses to separate out food waste for collection by 2014 (if producing greater than 50kg per week) or 2016 (if producing greater than 5kg per week). It also compels local authorities to provide separate food waste collections in all non-rural areas by 2016.

The Scottish Government consulted on its first national circular economy strategy in summer 2015, which included proposals for ending the exemption of food waste collections in rural areas (so every household in Scotland has access to a food waste service) and introducing a cash incentive for certain types of recycling. The final circular economy strategy for Scotland Making Things Last was published on 23 February 2016 and is being supported by over £70 million of investment (including £30 million of European Structural Funds). On recycling, it states:

We want recycling to be routine in every business and household; with more consistent local services; more packaging designed for recyclability, and every household having access to a food waste

Scotland published its first national circular economy strategy in February 2016

Number CBP 7285, 24 October 2016 24

service. We are working to improve recycling rates, collaborating with the waste and packaging industries; reviewing the exemption from the requirement for food waste collections in rural areas; and learning from experiences abroad, including deposit return schemes. We also want to see higher quality recyclate, and will examine how best to minimise contamination in household and commercial recycling to maximise both quality and value.

16 of the 32 local councils in Scotland signed up to a voluntary Charter for Household Recycling in Scotland in July 2016. One of its key objectives is to establish a common collection regime for paper, card, glass, plastics, metals, food and other recyclates across Scotland, with the aim of making it easier for people to recycle at home. The Charter is supported by a Code of Practice which was developed in collaboration with local councils. Local authorities who sign the Charter can access funding from Zero Waste Scotland to help with the provision of new services.48

4.4 Northern Ireland The waste prevention programme for Northern Ireland, The Road to Zero Waste, sets out a number of actions to be taken in Northern Ireland, including the Rethink Waste Capital Fund to assist councils to increase levels of recycling.

Following consultation in 2013, the Department of Environment in Northern Ireland (DoENI) has introduced the Food Waste Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015 which place a duty on certain food businesses to present food waste for separate collection from 1 April 2016.

The Northern Ireland Department of the Environment consulted on proposals to promote high quality recycling of dry recyclates which sets out a vision not only to increase the quantity of material recycled, but also to promote the quality of recycling.

48 Scottish Government, Get waste sorted, 25 July 2016 [accessed 21 October 2016]

Certain food businesses in Northern Ireland will be required to present food waste for separate collection from 1 April 2016

25 Household recycling in the UK

5. Increasing the household recycling rate

A typical recycling supply chain for household waste begins in the home, progressing via bin collection by the local authority to sorting in a local materials recovery facility (known as a MRF) and then onto the reprocessor (for example, a paper mill). There are a number of challenges faced along the supply chain and a variety of approaches being taken at a local level which are aimed at improving household recycling rates.

5.1 Local authority performance Local councils have been instrumental in increasing the amount of household waste recycled. However, Defra statistics show that, in 2014/15 recycling rates in local authorities in England ranged between 14% to 67%:

• Council of the Isles of Scilly had the lowest household waste recycling rate at 14% and Newham London Borough Council and Lewisham London Borough Council both had rates at 17%;

• South Oxfordshire District Council had the highest household waste recycling rate at 67% (with over 47% of their recycling comprising green/organic waste); and

• the Vale of White Horse District Council had a rate of 66%. • the local authorities with the largest increase in household waste

recycling rates over 2014/15 were South Bucks District Council, Ashford Borough Council, East Cambridgeshire District Council and Gravesham Borough Council (with rates increasing by between 10 to 17 percentage points).49

Annual results tables on local authority collected waste are available on Gov.uk: ENV18 – Local authority collected waste.

Eunomia (an independent environmental consultancy) has a Local Authority Recycling Carbon Index which measures the environmental performance of councils’ recycling services: Recycling Carbon Index Tool.

5.2 Barriers to increasing the recycling rate A Report commissioned by SUEZ At this rate…exploring England’s recycling challenges and based on a study by SLR Consulting found that the vast majority of recyclable material losses still occur at the first stage in the supply chain—in the home. It identified the following factors as holding back England’s household waste recycling rates:

49 Defra, Statistics on waste managed by local authorities in England in 2014-15, 1

December 2015 [accessed 24 October 2016]

Recycling rates across England ranged between 14% to 67% in 2014/15.

Number CBP 7285, 24 October 2016 26

• Losing value in households: only 42% of England’s household waste is segregated at source as recyclables, which is significantly lower than levels achieved in the best performing European countries. Recycling rates are particularly low for food (less than 10% recycled), plastics (less than 15% recycled) and textiles (less than 16% recycled).

• Poor material capture: local authorities only provide a limited proportion of households with collection systems for the major recyclables.

• Housing mix and multi-occupancy dwellings: recycling rates are falling in areas where there is an increase in multi-occupancy dwellings. Rates also tend to be lower where there are challenges with social deprivation, urban classifications, education, language and residential stability.

• Garden waste distorting comparisons: arguably garden waste being included in recycling rates distorts recycling league tables.

• Weaker policy levers: high performers in the EU use stronger incentives such as ‘pay-as-you-throw’ schemes where householders are charged for having non-recyclable waste collected; and landfill/incineration restrictions for some materials.50

The Report also sets out a number of recommendations and interventions which it identifies as being needed to raise household recycling rates, which have not been reproduced in this Paper.

The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee highlighted the following as common challenges faced by local authorities with low recycling rates:

• transient populations in inner city urban areas; • high-density housing with little space for recycling receptacles; • lack of householder engagement and understanding; • insufficient infrastructure and recycling facilities; • problems with accessing output markets; and • budget cuts.51

5.3 Local authority approaches Local authority approaches to increasing recycling rates vary depending on the challenges faced at a local level. The approach taken by a specific local authority can usually be found on their website. A sample of common approaches in England is provided below.

Rewards and recognition Rewards and recognition can be used as a way of motivating good recycling. A Keep Britain Tidy survey found that about 90% of the public

50 SUEZ At this rate…exploring England’s recycling challenges 15 September 2015

[accessed 17 September 2015] 51 Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, Waste management in England,

Fourth Report of Session 2014-15, HC 241, 22 October 2014, para 29

27 Household recycling in the UK

said that they would like to see some sort of reward coming back to the community to acknowledge good recycling.52

Rewards and recognition can include: cash rewards; rebates on council tax; improvements to the local community (e.g. planting trees); providing vouchers which can be swapped for goods at local stores.

Examples of local authorities using rewards and recognition to increase recycling rates include:

• Wokingham Borough Council introducing a direct cash reward scheme in April 2012 which led to an initial increase of 28% in the tonnage of recycling collected.53

• Stafford Council launched a cash incentive scheme in 2014 which gave residents the chance to receive £60 if they could prove they had no recycling in their residual waste bins.

• Bracknell Forest Council offers points to residents who recycle properly which can then be exchanged for rewards (including leisure, library, green rewards such as water butts or cash donations to local good causes).

• In Bath, from 29 June 2015 to 19 March 2016, every time a resident puts waste food out for recycling, they could win a £50 voucher.

Defra launched a reward and recognition fund in partnership with SERCO in 2011 as a pilot to test innovative ideas to encourage positive behaviour. Funding was provided to 28 projects (including recycling) and a final analysis report is expected to be published by Defra by the end of 2015.

A Eunomia report published in February 2014 found that value for money is unproved for current UK reward schemes (outside those covered by Defra’s reward and recognition fund) and in some cases could actually cost more than the evaluated benefits they deliver.

Separate garden and food waste collections Separate food and garden waste collections are often suggested as an answer to increasing recorded recycling rates.

Garden waste The At this rate…exploring England’s recycling challenges Report states that “if garden waste recycling was excluded from performance calculations and total household waste arisings, the recycling rate for England would have been about 33%.”54 It goes on to say that:

Arguably, the inclusion of garden waste distorts performance statistics when comparing local authorities across England, favouring local authorities which have properties with relatively large gardens and collections for garden waste in place.

52 Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, Waste management in England,

Fourth Report of Session 2014-15, HC 241, 22 October 2014, para 48 53 Ibid. 54 SUEZ At this rate…exploring England’s recycling challenges 15 September 2015, p14

[accessed 17 September 2015]

Number CBP 7285, 24 October 2016 28

Nonetheless, garden waste recycling can still be used, justifiably, to contribute towards overall national performance figures.55

As an example of the impact on recycling rates, Ashford Borough Council increased its household waste recycling rate from 12% (2012/13) to 42% (2013/14) following the introduction of new recycling arrangements including green recycling.

Food waste Food waste has one of the lowest capture rates in England (about 10% recycled), yet councils that collect food waste have higher recycling rates.56 It is estimated that the UK produces 15 million tonnes of food waste annually, and that UK households produce almost half of this. Avoidable household food waste reduced by 21% between 2007 and 2012 but the average UK household still throws away the equivalent of six meals per week (around 4.2 million tonnes of avoidable household food and drink).57

The Local Government Association’s paper on Meeting EU recycling targets (May 2015) states that nearly half of councils in England offer a food waste collection together with garden waste, but also stresses that “given reducing local authority budgets it is unlikely that enough councils will either be able to maintain or add collection of food waste unless it becomes more cost effective to do so”.58

Local authorities can struggle with the costs associated with implementing separate food waste collections and participation rates by householders can be low. For example, Luton Borough Council stopped its separate food waste collection in March 2013 as it was no longer financially viable to operate it due to falling volumes of food waste collected (despite doorstepping campaigns to increase participation and capture).

See section 4 above for national policy on food waste collections. For more information on food waste policy refer to the Library Briefing Paper on Food Waste.

There is also growing public interest in how much food is wasted and redistributed to those who need it. Relevant information is set out in the Library Briefing Paper on Food Banks and Food Poverty.

Communication campaigns Householders play a key role in recycling rates but in general have no direct financial incentive to do so.

55 Ibid. 56 WRAP Analysis of recycling performance and waste arisings in the UK 2013/13

[accessed 17 September 2015] 57 WRAP, Household food and drink waste in the UK 2012 [accessed 17 September

2015] 58 Local Government Association, Meeting EU recycling targets, May 2015, para 3.3

[accessed 17 September 2015]

29 Household recycling in the UK

The At this rate…exploring England’s recycling challenges Report explains the importance of communications:

it is crucial to ensure householders fully understand collection arrangements in order to optimise material yields from recycling services. Frequent, targeted communications on schemes offered will ensure that new residents will be able to use schemes and also maximise segregation by long-term residents.59

Since 2004, WRAP has carried out national communication campaigns such as Recycle Now to encourage household recycling. Some more specific local issues (for example, confusion about what can and cannot be recycled in the area) need to be addressed at a more local level. WRAP provides a practical guide for local authorities to help to improve recycling performance through effective communications with residents. The guide includes sections on social media, communicating with culturally diverse groups and communications on a low budget.

However, the Local Government Association’s paper on Meeting EU recycling targets (May 2015) states that “one of the consequences of reduced local authority budgets has been a squeeze on the number of dedicated officers and resources for recycling communication activity”.

5.4 Waste and Resources Action Programme: resources and campaigns

WRAP (the Waste and Resources Action Programme) is an independent, not-for-profit company. It registered as a charity in December 2014. WRAP helps people recycle more and waste less, both at home and at work, and offers economic as well as environmental benefits. WRAP works across the UK with a wide range of partners, from major UK businesses, trade bodies and local authorities through to individuals looking for practical advice.

WRAP has in-depth experience of running national recycling campaigns that encourage consumers to take action. Its Recycle Now brand is used by over 90% of local authorities in England, as well as major brands, retailers and community groups. WRAP explains that using the Recycle Now brand and its ready-to-use communication materials helps its partners set up and maintain effective recycling schemes, create more positive public attitudes towards waste and increase the amount of materials being recycled.

WRAP has multiple resources for local authorities, which are available on its website here.

WRAP funding WRAP is partly funded by all four governments across the UK. In 2014/15, WRAP’s total income was £40.7 million compared with £66.3

59 SUEZ At this rate…exploring England’s recycling challenges 15 September 2015, p37

[accessed 17 September 2015]

Number CBP 7285, 24 October 2016 30

million in the previous year.60 According to WRAP’s latest annual report, this decrease is mainly due to reductions in central government grant funding. In 2014/15, £33.5 million of WRAP’s income from charitable activities was in the form of UK government grants.61

In 2014, the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee expressed concern over the funding cuts:

We are concerned that, despite the significant achievements of both organisations, Defra’s funding for WRAP and Keep Britain Tidy has reduced over recent years. We urge Defra to increase the funding if evidence suggests it necessary in the lead up to 2020.62

A framework for greater consistency in household recycling In September 2016, WRAP published a voluntary framework for greater consistency in household recycling.63 Its aim is stated as:

By 2025 packaging is designed to be recyclable, where practical and environmentally beneficial, and is labelled clearly to indicate whether it can be recycled or not. Every household in England can recycle a common set of dry recyclable materials and food waste, collected in one of three different ways.64

The framework was developed by an advisory group consisting of members across the waste sector.65 The framework identifies the following elements of greater consistency:

1. All households to be able to recycle the same core set of materials (paper, card, plastic bottles, plastic pots, tubs and trays, glass and metal packaging, cartons and food waste).

2. Fewer collection and sorting systems.

3. A common container colour system.

A number of initiatives and working groups have been identified and set up to achieve an action plan to move towards the overall aim of the framework. These are expected to start reporting on activities by Spring 2017.

National recycling guidelines The first National Recycling Guidelines were published by WRAP in October 2016. The guidelines were developed with local authorities,

60 WRAP, Annual Report and Consolidated Accounts for the year ended 31 March

2015, p22 [accessed 17 September 2015] 61 Ibid. 62 Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, Waste management in England,

Fourth Report of Session 2014-15, HC 241, 22 October 2014, para 40 63 WRAP, A framework for greater consistency in household recycling in England, 13

September 2016 [accessed 21 October 2016] 64 Ibid. 65 WRAP, A framework for greater consistency in household recycling in England, 13

September 2016 [accessed 21 October 2016] See pg. 5 for a full list of advisory group members.

31 Household recycling in the UK

waste management companies and reprocessors to tackle confusion in UK households around what items can and cannot be recycled.66

The guidelines have been published to support the Framework for greater consistency for England and set out a Yes and No list of items that can or cannot be recycled, along with how to present items for recycling (for example, keeping bottle top lids on or off). This reflects national agreement between the reprocessors, local authorities and waste management companies about what they can and cannot accept for recycling.

The new National Recycling Guidelines include guidance for local authorities about the next steps they can take to use the new guidelines.

66 WRAP, Recycling Guidelines, October 2016 [accessed 21 October 2016]

Number CBP 7285, 24 October 2016 32

6. Parliamentary scrutiny 6.1 Select Committee Reports and Inquiries

The Environmental Audit Committee published a Report on Growing a circular economy: Ending the throwaway society on 1 November 2014. Its recommendations to the Government included:

• Introducing differential VAT rates based on life-cycle analysis of the environmental impact or recycled content of products, and tax allowances for businesses that repair goods or promote re-use.

• Reforming the PRN scheme to include an ‘offset’ or lower charge for products that have higher recycled content and ensuring that funds generated from the operation of the scheme are distributed to bodies working to enhance materials recovery and product circularity.

• Introducing individual producer responsibility schemes in new sectors to make more producers design products with their end-of-life in mind.

• Providing clear guidance that directs local authorities in England towards a more standard approach to recycling, including separation systems that enable delivery of compatible sorted waste products to all recyclers, separate food waste collections and a ban on food waste to landfill.

• Developing eco-design standards across a range of products, working closely with the EU.

The Government Response confirmed that no further reforms to taxation were necessary at that stage and proposals on the reform of the PRN scheme would be considered as part of a wider review of the PRN system. The Government also confirmed that it had no plans to compel local councils to adopt household food waste collections, nor did it have any plans to require the recyclability of all products coming on to the market.67

The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee published a Report on Waste management in England on 22 October 2014 in which it noted that it was “concerned that the 2020 target of 50% household recycling will not be met in England without clear Government leadership and renewed policy drivers and support from Defra”.68 Its recommendations to the Government included:

67 Environmental Audit Committee, Growing a circular economy: Ending the

throwaway society, Government response to the Committee’s Third Report of Session 2014-15, Eighth Special Report of Session 2014-15, HC 699, 1 November 2014

68 Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, Waste management in England, Fourth Report of Session 2014-15, HC 241, 22 October 2014, para 25

33 Household recycling in the UK

• Defra should work alongside WRAP and industry to develop a comprehensive plan to be implemented in the event that England’s recycling rate continues to slow;69

• Defra should facilitate and encourage learning from best practice actions to help local authorities gravitate towards the best possible service in their area;70

• In accordance with the waste hierarchy, encouraging a move towards banning the landfilling of all recyclable waste by 2025 as landfill should only be used for wastes for which there is no better recovery option. However, any such proposals must be signalled well in advance, with appropriate support and alternative infrastructure put in place to guard against disproportionate cost burdens;71

• Defra should aspire to achieve recycling rates at the maximum feasible level, with or without European targets;72 and

• The Government must find ways of diverting more food waste out of the residual waste stream by methods which are economically and environmentally viable and suitable to local circumstances.73

The Government Response confirmed that the Government is committed to achieve 50% recycling of household waste by 2020 and that “it is only once EU negotiations on any new proposal have substantively concluded that we would have sufficient clarity to consider what further action, including on support and infrastructure, will be necessary to meet future EU measures.”74

The Environmental Audit Select Committee is currently carrying out an inquiry into Sustainability and HM Treasury, including a call for additional written evidence on HM Treasury’s contribution to meeting waste and recycling targets. The most recent information on this inquiry is available on the Committee’s webpage on Sustainability and HM Treasury inquiry.

6.2 Other Parliamentary scrutiny Barry Sheerman MP tabled an early day motion on Recycling on 15 July 2015 which called on the Government to strengthen its commitment to recycling by imposing stricter and more effective levies on waste going to landfill, by working with the EU and local authorities to create effective incentive structures, and by encouraging businesses to participate in the circular economy.

69 Ibid., para 28 70 Ibid., para 35 71 Ibid., para 54 72 Ibid., para 55 73 Ibid., para 71 74 Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, Waste management in England:

Government response to the Committee’s Fourth Report of Session 2014-15, Fifth Special Report of Session 2014-15, HC 921, 12 January 2015

Number CBP 7285, 24 October 2016 34

An adjournment debate on Waste Recycling: South Gloucestershire was held on 23 February 2016 in which then Defra minister Rory Stewart re-iterated the Government’s commitment to meeting the 50% recycling target across the country by 2020. He also highlighted the benefits of a single, harmonised collection system:

this country has more than 300 recycling systems. It is a little bit absurd. As we go from council to council, we see that some collect waste commingled, some—about 40—separate food waste, and about another 260 do not. There are different sizes and colours of bin, different types of truck, different types of recycling system and different types of anaerobic digester consuming waste. That all adds cost. […] In London alone, we could probably save £19 million a year if we had a single standard recycling system. Across the country as a whole, the savings would be extraordinary. We spend more than £3 billion a year simply collecting waste. If we had a single, harmonised system across the country, we could drive up recycling rates, massively reduce the cost for ratepayers and achieve extraordinary things for the environment and for councils themselves.75

75 HC Deb 23 Feb 2016: Col 277

35 Household recycling in the UK

7. Possible impact of Brexit The Government announced in October 2016 that it plans to introduce a Bill that will repeal the European Communities Act 1972 from the day of formal exit from the EU and convert current EU law into domestic law.76 The mechanics and detail of how this process will be achieved, including whether it will provide complete legal continuity or will introduce modifications or amendments remains unclear. This means that the specifics of what will happen to the extensive range of EU-driven UK waste legislation after Brexit remains uncertain. In a domestic context, as this is a devolved area, the removal of overarching EU requirements means that the UK Government and devolved administrations could determine their own approach. This may therefore be an area where different governments across the UK diverge to a greater extent in the future.

The impact on future recycling and circular economy policy will also depend on the nature of the post-Brexit relationship between the UK and the EU. This will be subject to negotiations and is as yet unknown, but the options range from membership of the European Economic Area (EEA) to trading under World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules. A number of different scenarios are explained further in the Library Briefing Paper on Brexit: Impact across policy areas.

In relation to the development of the EU Circular Economy Package, up until the date of formal exit, the Government has confirmed that Defra and BEIS ministers will continue to attend the EU Environment Council and informal meetings of environment and climate ministers; and UK officials will continue to attend working groups and standing committees along with the other Member States.77 Following a formal exit the UK will not have any direct influence over the determination of the final standards or legislation (see Section 2.2 above).

In the short-term there has been some delay on current domestic workstreams. For example, the publication of the Government’s 25 year Environment plan was delayed following the referendum result and is no longer expected by the end of the year.78 A PQ response (10 October 2016) provides the following update:

We will publish a 25 Year Environment Framework this autumn, starting off a period of public engagement to help shape the 25 Year Environment Plan which we aim to publish in 2017.79

76 Department for Exiting the European Union news story, Government announces end

of European Communities Act, 2 October 2016 [accessed 21 October 2016] 77 Environmental Audit Committee, EU and UK Environmental Policy: Government

Response to the Committee’s Third Report of Session 2016–16, HC 644, 7 September 2016, para 4

78 See: CIWM Journal, Defra delays its 25-Year Environment Plan, 6 July 2016 79 PQ 46423 [on Environment Protection] 10 October 2016

Number CBP 7285, 24 October 2016 36

7.1 Parliamentary debate and commentary In a House of Lords debate on Brexit: Environmental and Climate Change Policy (20 October 2016) a number of calls were made in relation to recycling policy. Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Labour) called for the EU targets to be maintained and the circular economy proposals to be embraced:

Finally, on waste, recycling and resource efficiency, the Government should reinforce the EU’s 50% recycling targets and embrace the principles of a circular economy —a point that a number of noble Lords have reinforced this afternoon. This, of course, sadly runs counter to the statements of the new waste Minister, Thérèse Coffey, to the Environmental Audit Committee a few days ago, when she said she was not convinced about the concept of a closed-loop economy. Perhaps the Minister could commit to having a word with her about this and reaffirm the Government’s intention to embed the policy in UK legislation.80

Defra Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Lord Gardiner of Kimble, did not respond specifically on points relating to recycling targets or the circular economy, but he did confirm that conversations had started to understand views on opportunities for Defra policy outside the EU:

Following the decision to leave the EU, we have the opportunity to widen the scope of the environment plan and design an approach and supporting regulation that is tailored for our country. That is something very much that the noble Baroness, Lady Jones of Whitchurch, sought to tease out in her questions. We have started conversations with stakeholders to understand views on opportunities for Defra policy outside the EU.81

More information on whether it is Government policy to retain targets to recycle 50 per cent of waste by 2020 after the UK withdraws from the EU was provided by Defra in a PQ response:

While we remain in the EU, all rights and obligations associated with our membership will remain in place, including the target to re-use or recycle 50% of our household waste by 2020. Beyond that, the Government remains committed to actions to reduce waste and increase our rates of recycling. In our 2015 Manifesto, we set the goal of being the first generation to leave England’s natural environment in a better state than that in which we found it. This is a big ambition and one to which the Government remains committed.82

In the House of Commons Opposition Day Debate on the EU referendum: energy and environment (12 July 2016) Chair of the Environmental Audit Committee (Mary Creagh) stated:

Brexit raises a series of questions. There is the issue of the circular economy package, which is the EU’s drive to get us to reduce

80 HL Deb 20 October 2016 c2515 81 HL Deb 20 October 2016 c2516 82 PQ 44653 [on recycling] 12 September 2016

37 Household recycling in the UK

waste, recycle more and have a secure and sustainable supply of raw materials, such as paper, glass and plastics. That would have driven new, green jobs in the UK economy. The decision to abandon all that has left investors reeling.83

In the same debate, former Shadow Secretary of State (Kerry McCarthy) also pressed for the UK Government to remain a part of negotiations on the circular economy package and called for reassurance that Brexit will not “derail our progress”:

Another example of the European Union discussing issues that affect the UK—it is not a question of legally binding obligations being imposed on us, but we certainly ought to be part of the negotiations—is the EU circular economy package, which was agreed at the end of last year.

…

If the EU circular economy package is properly implemented—that is quite a big “if”—the potential for new jobs and innovative new lines of business is huge. I would like the Minister to reassure us that we will not allow Brexit to derail our progress.84

The minister responding for the Government did not directly address circular economy or recycling issues raised.

On 20 July 2016, the Chair of the Environmental Audit Committee, Mary Creagh MP, wrote to the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union and to the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Defra, seeking reassurance about the Government’s approach to ongoing negotiations around EU measures such as the Circular Economy Package.85 There is no official response from the Departments but these questions were further examined when the Committee took oral evidence from both these Departments on 7 September 2016. Specifically in relation to the future of the circular economy, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Defra (Dr Therese Coffey) responded:

Some of the proposals potentially about changing the definition of what constitutes recycling could have a big impact on the UK. So we just need to be careful in our approach to this. How can I put it? We don’t want to end up with a perverse outcome just because of some kind of very specific rules and regulations, I am going to look into this more carefully. I cannot give you a specific answer that I expect would satisfy your needs right now.86

83 HC Deb 12 July 2016 c194 84 HC Deb 12 July 2016 c208 85 Environmental Audit Committee, Letters to Rt Hon David Davis MP and Dr Therese

Coffey MP, 20 July 2016 [accessed 27 July 2016] 86 Environmental Audit Committee, Oral evidence: The Future of the Natural

Environment after the EU Referendum, HC 599, Q92

Number CBP 7285, 24 October 2016 38

7.2 Commentary from the waste industry and professionals

A sample of wider commentary on the possible impact of Brexit on recycling and the circular economy is provided below.

Initial reaction to the referendum result Leading up to and immediately after the referendum result, the following commentary and reactions were reported.

A Report from Sustainalytics (June 2016) examined the impact that leaving the EU could have on nine environmental, social corporate governance issues and identified two of these (recycling and air pollution policy) as policy issues which may be weakened at a domestic level following a formal exit from the EU.87

The Brexit: Assessing the ESG Implications report from investment researchers Sustainalytics has analysed the impact that leaving the EU could have on corporative environmental and social governance. The report found that while policy changes are unlikely to influence businesses’ environmental performances in the short-term, both air quality and waste reduction commitments could be ignored by companies due to a change in existing legislation.

On two issues, recycling and air pollution, there is reason to believe that the Brexit could lead to a weakening of domestic standards, which could blunt the incentive for UK firms to develop programmes in these areas.88

The Guardian reported that “two-thirds of the professionals” in the sector think progress in recycling and waste will “go into reverse, with 30% saying it will stay the same and just 4% thinking it will improve.”89

In a press statement on 24 June, the Environmental Services Association (ESA)’s Executive Director Jacob Hayler called for the industry to turn the referendum result into an opportunity and stated:

The referendum result will extend and intensify the uncertainty around both our industry and the UK more generally. The danger now is that the waste and recycling sector is placed at the bottom of the Government’s in-tray. It is therefore vital for us to make the case for the circular economy within the UK and to highlight the advantages of a strong and competitive resource efficient economy.90

87 Sustainanalytics, Brexit: Assessing the ESG Implications Report, June 2016 [accessed

29 June 2016] 88 edie.net, Brexit could ‘weaken’ business standards for recycling and air quality, 27

June 2016 89 Guardian, UK’s out vote is a ‘red alert’ for the environment, 24 June 2016 (Damien

Carrington’s blog) [accessed 29 June 2016] 90 ESA press statement, Referendum result must be taken as an opportunity, 24 June

2016 [accessed 24 October 2016]

39 Household recycling in the UK

The Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA) posted a webinar on the legal perspective on the UK’s decision to leave the EU at the end of June 2016 in which a Partner and Head of the National Environment Team at law firm Weightmens LLP called for new incentives for waste and warned that the relevance of the European Commission’s circular economy package to the UK has “just gone now really, in one fell swoop”.91

Further reactions to the referendum result are available in the Brexit – How the Waste & recycling Industry Reacted to the Referendum Result article.92

More recent commentary Since the initial reactions to the referendum result, further commentary and calls have emerged as follows.

In the absence of an EU framework, some representatives from the waste industry called on the UK Government to put in place a long term framework of policy and legislation consistent with circular economy principles, so that the industry can invest in waste and resource management.93 In contrast, a consortium of waste disposal authorities (the Joint Waste Disposal Authorities94) is reported to have called on Government to reject EU recycling targets and adopt an independent resource agenda for England.95

The Chair of the Local Authority Recycling Advisory Committee (LARAC) has suggested that the UK keeps the best bits of EU legislation and proposals and rethinks the not-so-good ones.96 The Chartered Institution of Wastes Management (CIWM) has called for greater clarity on the likely impacts of Brexit on the waste and resource sector. CIWM’s Chief Executive commented after the 2016 Conservative party conference as follows:

Myriad questions remain, including the outlook for the EU Circular Economy package, which could be on the EU statute book before the UK departs. We must also keep an eye out for more detail on exactly how changes to the existing legislation will be made when the time comes. Will it be a truly consultative (and potentially,

91 Environmentalist Online, Brexit vote means the end of circular economy for UK

business, 29 June 2016 [accessed 1 September 2016] 92 Cheaperwaste, Brexit – How the waste and recycling industry reacted to the

referendum result, 27 June 2016 [accessed 24 October 2016] 93 ENDS Report, Brexit uncertainties plague the waste sector, 1 July 2016 [subscription

needed] [accessed 4 July 2016]. Comments from CIWM, Resources Association and ESA are reported.

94 Consisting of Greater Manchester, Merseyside, East London, North London, West London and Western Riverside.

95 Letsrecycle.com, Waste disposal authorities outline Brexit plan, 7 October 2016 [accessed 24 October 2016]

96 Recycling and Waste World, UK industry must be positive post-Brexit, 20 July 2016 [accessed 24 October 2016]

Number CBP 7285, 24 October 2016 40

therefore, long drawn out and complex) process as May promises or will Ministers be given executive powers?97

Summing up the pros and cons, he went on to say:

Looking on the positive side, there is everything to play for and CIWM is and will continue to engage with all four UK governments to ensure that the UK has a robust and ambitious waste and resources strategy in the future. On the down side, investment in services and infrastructure requires long term certainty and it is hard to say when our industry will have that luxury again.98

The Government has confirmed that it will work with industry and the public to develop the UK’s future relationship with the EU on environmental policy.99

97 Waste Management World, CIWM’s Steve Lee Calls for Clarity over Brexit impact on

Waste and Resource Sector, 5 October 2016 [accessed 24 October 2016] 98 Ibid. 99 Environmental Audit Committee, EU and UK Environmental Policy: Government

Response to the Committee’s Third Report of Session 2016–16, HC 644, 7 September 2016, para 3

BRIEFING PAPER Number CBP 7285, 24 October 2016

The House of Commons Library research service provides MPs and their staff with the impartial briefing and evidence base they need to do their work in scrutinising Government, proposing legislation, and supporting constituents.

As well as providing MPs with a confidential service we publish open briefing papers, which are available on the Parliament website.

Every effort is made to ensure that the information contained in these publically available research briefings is correct at the time of publication. Readers should be aware however that briefings are not necessarily updated or otherwise amended to reflect subsequent changes.

If you have any comments on our briefings please email papers@parliament.uk. Authors are available to discuss the content of this briefing only with Members and their staff.

If you have any general questions about the work of the House of Commons you can email hcinfo@parliament.uk.

Disclaimer - This information is provided to Members of Parliament in support of their parliamentary duties. It is a general briefing only and should not be relied on as a substitute for specific advice. The House of Commons or the author(s) shall not be liable for any errors or omissions, or for any loss or damage of any kind arising from its use, and may remove, vary or amend any information at any time without prior notice.

The House of Commons accepts no responsibility for any references or links to, or the content of, information maintained by third parties. This information is provided subject to the conditions of the Open Parliament Licence.