Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to increase recycling rates.

In 2019, the Government published our Resources and Waste Strategy, which included our commitment to a target of 65% of municipal waste to be recycled by 2035. To help us achieve this target, we have committed to introducing major reforms to the waste sector: Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging (EPR), a deposit return scheme for drinks containers (DRS); and consistency in household and business recycling collections.

We published consultations for these measures in 2019. Following support for the proposals in the consultations, the Environment Bill sets out the primary legislation to establish these reforms. We published second consultations on these reforms in 2021, which provide further detail on the policies consulted on previously, including implementation timelines for the introduction of these new measures. The consultation on consistency in household and business recycling is still open and closes on 4 July 2021: https://consult.defra.gov.uk/waste-and-recycling/consistency-in-household-and-business-recycling/

Collectively, these reforms will help to increase the quantity and quality of material recycled. They will also help to increase participation in recycling by reducing confusion over what can be recycled and making it easier to recycle both at home and away from home.