Create new recycling and reuse requirements for local authorities

COP26 climate goals can only be met if we tackle consumer waste and consumption. The Government should create new requirements for local authorities to follow the waste hierarchy, and reduce landfill use, to reduce carbon emissions and waste.

The Government must bring forward its pledge to reduce landfill use to a max 10% of municipal waste by 2035 and mandate Reuse and Recycle. They need to be more ambitious with their target and act now to mandate that councils use the waste hierarchy. The waste hierarchy promotes the following steps in this order: Prevention, Reuse, Recycling, Other Recovery, and Disposal.

Second hand, the circular economy and reuse should form a larger part of the national - and international - net zero strategy.

The Government recognises the importance of tackling consumer waste. We set out in our Resources and Waste Strategy (2018) that we are committed to moving towards a more circular economy. That means we will continue to prioritise measures to prevent waste occurring in the first place, but where waste does occur, we should be maximising its resource value and minimising its environmental impact.

We consulted on a new Waste Prevention Programme between March and June 2021 which builds on the Resources and Waste Strategy and seeks to establish a programme which helps with our strategic goals including reducing greenhouse gas emissions and achieving net zero, as well as increasing our resource productivity and minimising waste. Subject to the results of that consultation, it will propose action across seven key sectors – construction; textiles; furniture; electrical and electronics products; road vehicles; packaging, plastics and single-use items; and food – to minimise waste and work towards a more resource efficient economy. This includes steps to use resources more efficiently, design and manufacture products for optimum life and repair and reuse more items. We expect to publish our revised Programme following the consultation shortly.

All local authorities and waste operators are already required, under the Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2011 on the transfer of waste, to collect, treat and dispose of waste in accordance with the waste hierarchy, which prioritises waste management options. This requires the prevention of waste in the first place (such as reuse or reduction of materials), and where this is not possible, preparing items for reuse. If neither prevention nor preparing for re-use is possible, then recycling is the next best option, followed by energy recovery (such as energy from waste). Disposal without energy recovery, such as landfill, is regarded as the worst option. Subject to some limited exceptions, regulation 13 requires the separate collection of waste paper, metal, plastic and glass and regulation 14 requires that separately collected waste is not mixed with other material with different properties. Following this, in 2020 we introduced a ban on sending waste paper, metal, plastic and glass that is separately collected for recycling or preparing for re-use to landfill or incineration.