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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department issues guidance to local authorities on the size of (a) household rubbish and (b) recycling bins.

No, Defra has not issued guidance on the size of household rubbish and recycling bins. Local authorities are best placed to determine the effective delivery of local services.

Through Simpler Recycling, Government is providing the framework in which they do this and ensure that there is consistency in what is collected.

The Government’s priority is ensuring that households’ needs are met, and we expect local authorities to continue to provide services to a reasonable standard, as they do now. Building on existing and new legal duties, Defra recently published non-statutory guidance on ensuring good waste collection services for households, which includes certain factors local authorities should consider when they review services, to ensure that reasonable standards are maintained.

We are also working with sector specialists WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Programme) to provide additional (non-statutory) guidance on best practice.