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 ensure the provision of free recycling for schools in England.
Under the Controlled Waste (England and Wales) Regulations, waste collection authorities may charge for the collection of waste from premises forming part of a school. In some cases local authorities may also charge for disposal costs.
The Government is consulting on arrangements for all businesses and public organisations, including schools, to have duties to separate certain recycling materials. We have published an impact assessment to support these proposals alongside this Consultation on Consistency in Household and Business Recycling Collections in England.
We have not made specific estimates of the number of schools that have to pay for their own recycling collections, nor have we made a specific assessment of the environmental effects of charging schools for recycling collections.