Reducing and managing waste

Issue

We generate about 177 million tonnes of waste every year in England alone. This is a poor use of resources and costs businesses and households money. It also causes environmental damage - for example, waste sent to landfill produces methane, a powerful greenhouse gas.

We want 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.

Actions

Preventing waste

The waste prevention programme for England

To help people and organisations make the most of opportunities to save money by reducing waste, we have published the Waste Prevention Programme for England. The programme sets out to:

encourage businesses to contribute to a more sustainable economy by building waste reduction into design, offering alternative business models and delivering new and improved products and services
encourage a culture of valuing resources by making it easier for people and businesses to find out how to reduce their waste, to use products for longer, repair broken items, and enable reuse of items by others
help businesses recognise and act upon potential savings through better resource efficiency and preventing waste, to realise opportunities for growth
support action by central and local government, businesses and civil society to capitalise on these opportunities

Responses to the earlier consultation and call for evidence were used to inform the development of the programme.

In May 2014 the Innovation in Waste Prevention Fund was launched. This scheme is funded by Defra as part of the waste prevention programme. Grants will be awarded to partnerships with creative ideas for preventing waste. The fund will run for two years and grants will be awarded in three phases.

Preventing food waste

We’re working with businesses in the food and drink sector to prevent food waste, which is a priority under the Review of Waste Policy in England (2011) and the Waste Prevention Programme for England (2013).

Recycling

We’re making it easier for people and organisations to recycle more.

Improving the quality of recycled material

We’re taking action to:

improve the quality of recycling collected from homes and businesses
create a stronger market for recycled materials - better quality materials will compete better on the domestic and international markets, and attract higher and more stable prices

The actions we’ve taken include:

publication of regulations and guidance on how to report data under the regulations to improve information on quality of recyclable material
publishing a quality action plan which includes actions for government and others in the supply chain

Making businesses responsible for what they produce

The UK has laws that require some businesses to make sure that a proportion of what they sell is recovered and recycled. These producer responsibility regulations are based on EC legal requirements. They cover producers of:

packaging
batteries
electrical and electronic equipment
vehicles

We’re reviewing the way these producer responsibility regulations work to:

make them more effective
reduce the administrative burdens they place on business

As part of the review we have consulted on a number of suggested changes to bring coherence across the different producer responsibility regimes. A summary of responses will be available soon. We plan to consult on proposed changes in to the regimes in due course.

Developing more voluntary responsibility deals

Government have worked with businesses to develop new voluntary responsibility deals. This means businesses take responsibility for ensuring that a proportion of the goods they produce are recycled, and for reducing waste.

Working with the waste industry

We’re working with the waste industry through the waste management responsibility deal to make sure that:

it’s as easy as possible for business, particularly small business, to recycle and get information about how to reduce their waste
businesses that perform well are recognised
enforcement is based on risk
the industry will improve its environmental performance Improving recycling and waste collection from households

We’re taking a range of actions to improve recycling and waste collection from households.

Helping businesses reduce and manage waste

We’re encouraging councils to sign up to the business waste and recycling services commitment. This means that councils agree to:

give clear information about their services
work with businesses to reduce waste

We’re reducing the unnecessary burden of regulation and enforcement on legitimate businesses, but targeting those who break the law or harm the environment. This is part of our wider work to reduce the burden of regulation on business. We’re doing this by:

carrying out the plans we set out in the regulation and enforcement section of the review of waste policy
carrying out research to develop a better evidence base to inform approaches to regulation and policy
work as part of the red tape challenge

Single-use plastic bag charging

We will introduce a 5p charge for single use plastic carrier bags, to come into effect in October 2015. The aim is to reduce the use of these bags to help protect the environment. We will encourage businesses to donate the proceeds from the charge to good causes.

Supporting energy from waste where appropriate

We support efficient energy recovery from waste. We’re working to increase the use of anaerobic digestion, which is the process of creating biogas from organic waste.

Getting the right infrastructure in place to deal with waste

We aim to have the right infrastructure in place to deal with waste as efficiently as possible.

To meet this aim, we’re giving local authorities £3.5 billion in grants for waste infrastructure projects. We also provide guidance to help local authorities carry out these projects.

Dealing with waste crime

Waste crime includes fly-tipping, the operation of illegal waste management sites and the illegal export of waste. It can damage the environment and human health, cause pollution, and harm local neighbourhoods.

We’re taking a range of measures to deal with waste crime, including:

working with the Sentencing Council on a new sentencing guideline (see ‘Environmental Offences - Definitive Guideline’) for waste crimes which took effect from 1 July 2014
reviewing when the Environment Agency can refuse registration of a waste carrier or revoke the registration of an existing carrier
bringing into force stronger powers to stop, search and seize vehicles suspected of involvement in waste crime
supporting the work the National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group
using police intelligence to identify people concerned with the illegal export of waste

An additional £5 million of funding for the enforcement of waste crime was announced in the 2014 Budget. This will increase the planned expenditure on waste crime enforcement in the financial year 2014 to 2015 by nearly 40%. The funding will help the Environment Agency to take on additional enforcement initiatives to tackle waste crime.

Disposing of tyres

The UK produces around 55 million waste tyres a year. We are working to ensure that tyres are disposed of legally.

Regulating landfill sites and landfill waste

Landfill sites are regulated via environmental permits issued to the operator. The design, operation, monitoring, closure and aftercare of landfill sites is subject to the requirements of the EU Landfill Directive and the Council Decision on Waste Acceptance Criteria.

Landfill should be the option of last resort for most waste, especially biodegradable and recyclable waste.

We continue to update our evidence on what goes into landfill and how we can reduce it cost effectively. Our latest research reports include studies into:

commercial and industrial waste
biodegradable content of municipal waste to landfill
literature review of UK composition and an alternative approach to calculate biodegradable municipal waste using modelling

We will use the updated information on commercial and industrial waste and biodegradable municipal waste in future analysis and reporting.

We consulted on restricting wood waste to landfill. After carefully considering the written responses, we don’t believe that the time is right to introduce a restriction on wood waste to landfill.

We have committed to reviewing landfill restrictions, including for textiles and food waste. However a good understanding of the data and waste streams is vital to making decisions. We are gathering evidence to consider if landfill restrictions are a cost effective way of managing this type of waste.

Controlling hazardous waste

Hazardous waste is any type of waste that can harm the environment or human health, either immediately or over time. It must be strictly controlled. We’re working with the Environment Agency and industry to reduce the amount and level of hazard of wastes produced.

Recycling ships

Ship recycling is a global issue. Our policy on the environmentally sound management of ships is set out in the UK ship recycling strategy.

Background

Our policy is informed by the ‘waste hierarchy’: 5 steps for dealing with waste, ranked according to their environmental impact. These are set out in Article 4 of the revised EU Waste Framework Directive (Directive 2008/98/EC).

Waste prevention, which is the best option for the environment, is the highest priority, followed by preparing for re-use, recycling, other recovery and disposal.

The review of waste policy in England (2011) set out 13 commitments that will set us on the path towards a zero waste economy. It prioritises efforts to manage waste in line with the waste hierarchy and reduce the carbon impact of waste. We published a progress report on this work in 2012.

Defra’s priorities for waste management activities for 2014 to 2015 were set out in a letter to sustainable resource management stakeholders on 6 November 2013.

Bills and legislation

See our guide to the legislation relating to waste.

Who we’re working with

The Environment Agency has a range of responsibilities, including regulating waste management facilities, monitoring and enforcement issues, and licensing and monitoring waste movement (including exports).

Local authorities are responsible for household and business waste collection services, waste disposal, enforcing waste legislation, dealing with fly-tipping, and encouraging good waste management (eg recycling) in their areas.

Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) is funded by government to deliver our resource efficiency policies by working with businesses, local authorities, communities and households.

The European Commission is currently reviewing its waste legislation to ensure that it is working efficiently. It is starting to develop its future policies on areas like recycling targets and waste prevention. The Commission held a consultation into this from June until September 2013. The UK government issued a formal response to this consultation in September 2013.

From:
Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs
Environment Agency
The Rt Hon Elizabeth Truss MP